Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was identified Tuesday as the U.S. service member who was killed on July 18 in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone, U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon said.
Another service member was injured in the same incident and continues to receive medical treatment for a "minor" injury, Centcom said.
The Pentagon's statement identifying Swinton did not mention the projectile's nationality, though a Centcom bulletin said the ordnance came from a "downed Iranian one-way attack drone."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the troops "were decommissioning ammunition and an accident happened in that process and they were harmed," without giving further details.
Swinton was assigned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and joined the Army in 2017 as an air defense early warning operator, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command said.
The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command said Swinton was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant and will receive the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and commanding general Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty said in a statement, "His service will not be forgotten, and his sacrifice is not in vain."
The incident remains under investigation; the U.S. military said Swinton was killed Sunday, while a Centcom bulletin said he died Saturday.
The Pentagon on Monday also named two soldiers who were killed in an Iranian attack on an air base in southern Jordan as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and said a third soldier based in Jordan remains missing.
Nearly 100 American service members have been injured in multiple Iranian attacks on bases across the Middle East since July 7, 2026, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, and 96% of those injured have returned to duty.