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← Reserves, Guard, and the Draft

National Guard and Reserve Units Sent to the Iran War

The National Guard is each state's part-time Army and Air Force. Its members hold civilian jobs and drill on weekends. A governor commands them at home; the President can "federalize" them under Title 10 of the US Code and send them overseas. The Army Reserve is a similar part-time federal force. Since 28 February 2026, Guard and Reserve units from at least half a dozen states have gone to the Iran war, and reservists have been among the first Americans killed. This page lists the units named in the record.

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED that Army Reserve soldiers were killed at Port Shuaiba and that about a third of Army casualties in the first six weeks were reservists (The War Horse FOIA records). CONFIRMED that a New York Army National Guard officer deployed "in support of the war with Iran" died in Kuwait (NYPD). STRONG for the Air National Guard deployments, which come from open-source flight tracking and newspaper reports rather than Pentagon releases.

Army Reserve and Army Guard: on the ground in Kuwait​

  • Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, 1 March 2026. The six soldiers killed by an Iranian drone were Army Reserve soldiers of a sustainment command, identified in a summary of Military Times and War Horse reporting as the Iowa-based 103rd Sustainment Command (X, 1 Aug 2026). See the Port Shuaiba attack.
  • New York, 42nd Infantry Division. The NYPD said Maj. Sorffly Davius, a city police officer, "had been deployed with the 42nd Infantry Division in support of the war with Iran" when he died after a medical emergency at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, on 6 March 2026. The Pentagon's casualty database does not count him. See the Washington Post's "at least 22".
  • Mississippi. The Clarion Ledger reported on 13 March 2026: "National Guard sends Mississippi soldiers to support Operation Epic Fury" (Clarion Ledger; headline as captured).

The War Horse's FOIA records put the reserve share in numbers: of more than 270 Army casualties between 28 February and 8 April, "about one-third of those were reservists" (Stars and Stripes / The War Horse, 28 Jul 2026). The Wall Street Journal's count at five weeks: "110 are reservists who probably never expected to see combat when they signed up" (as summarized by Mario Nawfal on X, 4 Apr 2026).

Air National Guard: flying the air war​

  • Michigan. Twelve A-10C attack jets of the Michigan Air National Guard, flying as TABOR71 to 86, were filmed at RAF Lakenheath in England on 30 March 2026 on their way to the Middle East (Shanaka Anslem Perera on X, 1 Apr 2026). The A-10 is built for one job: protecting troops on the ground. Perera: "Hegseth says there is no ground war. Trump says America is leaving in two weeks. And twelve tank killers just crossed the Atlantic."
  • Vermont. The 158th Fighter Wing's F-35As, deployed since February, per an open-source order-of-battle count (@DefenceGeek on X, 10 Aug 2026).
  • South Carolina and Idaho. The same count lists South Carolina's 169th Fighter Squadron F-16s (February) and Idaho's 124th Fighter Wing A-10s (April).
  • Ohio, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Flight tracker IntelSky reported on 29 August Ohio's 180th Fighter Wing sending 12 F-16C/Ds, Wisconsin's 115th Fighter Wing F-35As going "to relieve the Vermont National Guard F-35 squadrons deployed for months," and Wyoming's 153rd Airlift Wing sending four C-130H cargo planes (IntelSky on X, 29 Aug 2026).
  • New Hampshire. An AI reply on X stated that Gov. Kelly Ayotte confirmed a New Hampshire Guard unit was federally activated for Epic Fury (X, 5 Mar 2026). Her own statement was not found in the captures.

Tours that keep getting longer​

The Pentagon extended tours as the war dragged on. i24NEWS, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported Army air-defense units moved from nine-month to year-long tours (i24NEWS). MS NOW reported in August that "Army air defense soldiers are playing the leading role in defending U.S. troops in the Middle East." Many of those air-defense soldiers are Guard and Reserve.

What an invasion would need from the Guard​

A veteran who ran his own terrain analysis in 2025 wrote that invading Iran would require "Nearly 100% mobilization of the National Guard," plus Iraq as the main line of advance and four allied brigades (JimmyThomist on X, 30 Jul 2026). Analyst Policy Tensor counted the National Guard's 8 divisions alongside 11 active Army and 3 Marine divisions and concluded the US "cannot occupy Iran even with a draft" (X, 18 Mar 2026). See divisions needed versus divisions available.

The Guard is already in the war from the air. In any ground plan large enough to hold Iranian territory, it is the next pool of soldiers after the active force.

Status: Maj. Sorffly Davius is deceased (2026). Kelly Ayotte is alive. The six soldiers killed at Port Shuaiba are deceased (2026).

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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