Joel Valdez says DCAS count change reflects "temporary data disruptions" and calls NYT report a "non-story"
Joel ValdezActing Pentagon press secretary at the time (now Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary), in a statement provided to The New York Times and posted by Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell on his official X account
In a statement provided to The New York Times on July 23, 2026 and posted that evening by Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, then acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said the department was aware of temporary data disruptions and site anomalies on the Defense Casualty Analysis System website that were being resolved. He said the Times had written a "non-story" that will be fixed imminently and that the department remains committed to the utmost accuracy of all casualty reporting.
“The Department of War is aware of temporary data disruptions on the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) website. These site anomalies are currently being resolved in coordination with the Military Services. The Department attempted to explain the anomalies to the New York Times ahead of publication, but given their lack of knowledge in this area, they proceeded to write a non-story that will be fixed imminently. We remain committed to ensuring the utmost accuracy of all casualty reporting.”
Original post
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Where this statement fits
Is the Pentagon's public count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war complete?
On September 18, 2026, The Washington Post reported, citing six U.S. officials who spoke anonymously about the Defense Department's internal casualty accounting data, that at least 22 service members have died since the Iran war began on February 28; one official put the figure at 23. The Pentagon's public Defense Casualty Analysis System listed 18 deaths as of that date: 14 under Operation Epic Fury and 4 under an Overseas Operations category, created in July, that holds four deaths previously counted under Epic Fury. The Post said the identities and circumstances of the additional deaths are unclear, that one official said not all are directly tied to the conflict, and that the Pentagon declined to address its questions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that the report is fake and a lie; the Post said it stands by its report. On October 9, the Pentagon raised the DCAS total to 21 deaths, adding two noncombat deaths, those of Maj. Sorffly Davius, who died in Kuwait in March, and a Navy sailor who died in September. As of the October 9 tables, the 21 deaths comprise 11 hostile and 10 non-hostile deaths, and 865 service members are listed as wounded in action. The dispute is over whether the Pentagon's public count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war is complete.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell's official X account (government-verified). Posted 9:39 PM EDT on July 23, 2026 (01:39:04 UTC on July 24). The quoted block is attributed by Parnell to @JoelValdezDOW and introduced as 'the truth, provided to the New York Times today'; Parnell's own sentences around it are not Valdez's words and are excluded. The attached image is a screenshot of the Times headline.
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About this source
Paywalled. Read from the archive.today capture of 2026-09-05 13:04:16 UTC (dated 'July 23, 2026') and from The Seattle Times' syndicated copy (https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/number-of-u-s-troop-deaths-suddenly-appears-lower-on-pentagon-website/, 'July 23, 2026 at 6:00 pm' PDT). The Times prints only fragments of Valdez's email, in its own capitalisation ('The department', 'The New York Times') and stops its quotation at 'non-story', omitting 'that will be fixed imminently'; the fuller text is Parnell's post. It calls Valdez 'the acting press secretary for the Pentagon'.
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About this source
July 24 report quoting Valdez on temporary data disruptions. ABC dates the drop to Thursday; the AP account dates it to Wednesday. The article reports the Pentagon's explanation and lawmakers' criticism without resolving the cause of the database change.
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About this source
Published 2026-07-26 7:58 p.m. EDT, updated 11:12 p.m. EDT. Used only for the text after the quotation. It attributes 'site anomalies are currently being resolved' to Parnell because his post repeated the wording; the block quote is attributed to Valdez in the post itself.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The New York Times reported on July 23, 2026 that the Pentagon's casualty website showed 18 U.S. service members killed in the Iran war on Wednesday, July 22, and 14 by Thursday, and that three military officials said one reason was a decision to remove four service members killed the previous weekend (three in Jordan, one in northern Iraq) because their deaths came after the April ceasefire. Valdez's statement addresses the accuracy of the department's public DCAS count in that July episode; it predates the Washington Post's Sept. 18 report on additional deaths and is not a response to it.
After the quotation
By July 26, the DCAS site listed the four deaths under a separate "Overseas Operations Casualties" category, apart from the 14 listed under Operation Epic Fury.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
In July, when four deaths dropped out of the Operation Epic Fury tally, Valdez attributes the change to temporary data disruptions and site anomalies being resolved, calls the Times' report a non-story, and says the department is committed to the utmost accuracy of casualty reporting, which excuses the discrepancy as technical and defends the accounting. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because he disputes the Times' account of what happened. That loses because the statement goes beyond disputing a description: it explains the change as a data glitch and affirms the accuracy of the department's reporting.
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United States Department of Defense
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- Joel Valdez says DCAS count change reflects "temporary data disruptions" and calls NYT report a "non-story"
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The Dispute Index. "Joel Valdez says DCAS count change reflects "temporary data disruptions" and calls NYT report a "non-story"". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/1167-in-a-statement-provided-to-the-new-york