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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Department of War on Tuesday released the name of the service member killed over the weekend in Erbil while attempting to dismantle a downed Iranian drone. Washington has now announced three deaths among its forces since the latest escalation in the conflict with Tehran.
“Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed in action during a controlled detonation of a downed One-Way Unmanned Aerial System on July 19, 2026, at Erbil Air Base, Iraq,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
It noted that Swinton was “an active-duty Soldier who was supporting overseas operations in Iraq.”
Earlier on Sunday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Swinton died in the Kurdistan Region during a “controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance.” The command was withholding his name at the time.
The US Army on Monday released the identities of two other service members killed in an Iranian strike on an American base in Jordan.
Commenting on their deaths, US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that he had instructed the Pentagon that Iran should pay manyfold for every US soldier killed.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” he said.
Since the start of the war, 17 US servicemen have been killed and at least 420 wounded.
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