Pete Hegseth tells Pat Ryan that thousands of troops were moved off the X
Pete HegsethSecretary of Defense, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee
Asked by Rep. Pat Ryan at a House Armed Services Committee hearing whether survivors who dispute his description of the strike are lying, Hegseth said the Pentagon put in "maximum defensive posture" before the war and that "a much larger picture" included integrated air defenses, bunkers and moving people away from targets. "We moved those troops and all across the theater, thousands of troops off the X, off of their bases because we knew what Iran was going to try to strike," he said.
Responding to
Members of the 103rd Sustainment Command told CBS News, on condition of anonymity, that the Port Shuaiba post was not a fortified position, had no capability to defend against drones, and that describing the drone as one that "squeaked through" was false.
“We moved those troops and all across the theater, thousands of troops off the X, off of their bases because we knew what Iran was going to try to strike.”
Original video
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Did the military fail the troops wounded in the March 1 Iranian drone strike at Port Shuaiba?
On March 1, 2026, an Iranian drone struck a U.S. Army tactical operations center at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, killing six soldiers of the Army Reserve's 103rd Sustainment Command and wounding dozens more. The next day Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the drone as a "squirter" that made its way through air defenses and hit a fortified building. Survivors have since told CBS News and the Associated Press that the post had no defense against drones, that commanders had been warned, and that wounded soldiers waited days to be evacuated, were not recorded as combat wounded on arrival at Landstuhl and waited weeks or months for brain-injury care. The Pentagon says wounded troops are evaluated and may be admitted based on the severity of their injuries, the Army has rejected claims that it downplayed injuries, and the Army has not released its completed investigation. Democratic lawmakers have asked for answers. The dispute is over whether the military failed the troops at Port Shuaiba in how it protected them and how it cared for and documented the wounded.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Video of Rep. Pat Ryan's questioning of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department's fiscal 2027 budget request on April 29, 2026. Times are offsets into the clip. Quoted wording is our transcription; the exchange includes crosstalk, and automatic captions render parts of it differently.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
Press release from Rep. Pat Ryan's office giving his remarks to Hegseth at the April 29, 2026 House Armed Services Committee hearing. The release text differs in places from the spoken words on video.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Ryan read survivors' quotations from CBS News, including "Painting a picture that 'one squeaked through' is a falsehood," and asked whether Hegseth was saying they were lying. Hegseth said, "before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture," and asked whether Ryan was "just going to monologue falsehoods all over the place."
After the quotation
Hegseth said, "There could be a tragic moment where something could get through. Of course, that's the consequence of conflict," and that "we remember those six every single day." Ryan said the soldiers told the truth and called on Hegseth to resign.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether the military failed the soldiers at Port Shuaiba in protecting them or in caring for the wounded. Hegseth answers the survivors' accounts by describing the defensive measures taken across the theater and says losses are the consequence of conflict, which defends the military's protection. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because he accuses Ryan of monologuing falsehoods; it loses because he defends the measures themselves. Evidence: our transcription of video of the exchange, which includes crosstalk.
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- Pat Ryan
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- Pete Hegseth tells Pat Ryan that thousands of troops were moved off the X
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The Dispute Index. "Pete Hegseth tells Pat Ryan that thousands of troops were moved off the X". First published: 2026-10-06. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4866-asked-by-rep-pat-ryan-at-a-house