{"id":75497,"date":"2024-01-29T16:28:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T16:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/29\/what-is-tower-22-the-base-in-jordan-where-3-us-troops-were-killed\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:07:39","slug":"what-is-tower-22-the-base-in-jordan-where-3-us-troops-were-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/01\/29\/what-is-tower-22-the-base-in-jordan-where-3-us-troops-were-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Tower 22, the base in Jordan where 3 US troops were killed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JERUSALEM \u2014 A little-discussed U.S. military desert outpost in the far reaches of northeastern Jordan has become the focus of international attention after a drone attack killed three American troops and injured at least 34 others there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEight personnel that received injuries required evacuation from Jordan to higher level care, but they are in stable condition,\u201d U.S. Central Command said in a statement Sunday evening. \u201cAll other service members are being fully evaluated for follow-on care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base, known as Tower 22, sits near the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria along a sandy, bulldozed berm marking the DMZ\u2019s southern edge. The Iraqi border is only six miles away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tower 22 began as a Jordanian outpost watching the border, then saw an increased U.S. presence there after American forces entered Syria in late 2015. The small installation includes U.S. engineering, aviation, logistics and security troops with about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base\u2019s location offers a site for American forces to infiltrate and quietly leave Syria. A small American garrison at al-Tanf in Syria is just 12 miles north of Tower 22. That base is along a Syrian highway leading into Iraq and ultimately Mosul, once a prominent base of the Islamic State group. It\u2019s also a potential weapons shipment route over the road for Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area is known as Rukban, a vast arid region that once saw a refugee camp spring up on the Syrian side over the rise of the Islamic State group\u2019s so-called caliphate in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\t