The Pentagon identified the Army specialist and Air National Guardsman who were killed in Iraq on Wednesday alongside an allied British soldier in a rocket attack on their base carried out by Iranian-backed militia.
Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based out of Fort Hood, Texas. The native of Hanford, California, was part of the Air Cavalry’s “Attack” unit. Mendez Covarrubias received a posthumous promotion.
Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts, 28, was the first Oklahoma Air National Guardsman killed in action since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the 20th Oklahoma National Guardsman to die overseas since that time.
The two men were serving as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the global coalition to defeat the Islamic State.
Kata’ib Hezbollah, a deadly Iranian-backed Shiite militia, attacked the Taji Air Base north of Baghdad, which houses coalition forces who are involved in the mission to train, advise, and assist Iraqi forces. The United States carried out five retaliatory airstrikes in response on Thursday evening.
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of the U.S. Central Command, said on Friday the “defensive” strikes were “designed to send a clear, unambiguous signal” because “we’ve seen in the past what happens when you don’t respond.”
Mendez Covarrubias, a signal support systems specialist, deployed to Iraq in October 2019.
His battalion leader, Lt. Col. Adam Camarano, called him a “cherished” member of the Air Cavalry. He said, “the regiment and his fellow soldiers are grieving the loss of a true warrior,” and “he will not be forgotten.”
Lt. Gen. Pat White, the commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, said Mendez Covarrubias “earns our greatest honor for his combat service and sacrifice on the mission to, permanently, defeat ISIS in Iraq.” The commander said he was “a warrior who will forever be remembered.”
Roberts, who enlisted in May 2014, was a member of the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron’s 138th Fighter Wing based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The native of Owasso, Oklahoma, served as the squadron’s senior noncommissioned officer as his group worked to establish communications systems. He and his squad had been in Iraq since late 2019.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin State said, “Oklahomans all across the state mourn the loss of Staff Sgt. Roberts,” and “today serves as a reminder of the many brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day to defend our state and country.”
Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson, the adjutant general for Oklahoma, said Roberts “served selflessly and with honor” and asked “that every Oklahoman pray for the family of this fallen patriot.”
Col. Michael Meason, the commander of the 138th Fighter Wing, said, “The 138th family has lost a dedicated Airman, mentor, and leader.”
Lance Cpl. Brodie Gillon of the U.K.’s Royal Army Medical Corps and a reservist with the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry was also killed in the rocket attacks. Gillon, 26, was described by her commanding officer as a “larger than life soldier” who was “destined for great things.” Her squad leader called her an “outstanding medic and loyal friend” who would be “deeply missed.”
“Let me be clear, the United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday. “As we’ve demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.”
Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the members of an Iranian-backed militia group fired an estimated thirty 107 mm rockets or more at the base, and up to 18 hit the training camp, killing the two Americans and one Briton, while wounding 14 others, including five with urgent injuries.
The Defense Department announced “defensive precision strikes against Kata’ib Hizbollah facilities across Iraq” on Thursday night, saying the strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities “to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks.”
The Pentagon stressed, “These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups who continue to attack bases hosting Operation Inherent Resolve coalition forces.”
The U.S. killed Iranian spy chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani earlier this year following Kata’ib Hezbollah attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, including one which killed U.S. contractor linguist Nawres Hamid, as well as the violent storming of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad by Iranian-backed groups. Kata’ib Hezbollah is part of the broader pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces umbrella, which had been guided by Soleimani.
Two Marine Raiders, Gunnery Sgt. Diego Pongo and Capt. Moises Navas, were killed during a combat operation against an Islamic State stronghold in northern Iraq over the weekend in what were the first American combat deaths there this year.
The U.S. killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in Syria in October and has essentially eliminated ISIS’s physical caliphate, but the Pentagon’s lead inspector general warned against declaring premature victory against the terrorist group.
