An Army brigade's trial by fire against Iranian drones

In the Fall of 2023, a brigade of the 10th Mountain Division became the first large unit of U.S. soldiers to face waves of long-distance one-way attack drones. The “Commandos” of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team were the primary defense force for coalition bases across Iraq and Syria, during a time when troops in the region faced 170 attacks from one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and ballistic missiles fired by Iranian-backed militias.

The unit’s top leaders had seen years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they were unprepared for the waves of drones and their tactics, developed and deployed by Iranian-backed militias in just the few years since major combat ended in those larger wars.

Soldiers in the unit shot down close to 100 drones after limited pre-deployment drone training a