Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that for the first time this century, there are “no active-duty U.S. troops” in a combat zone, but critics said the statement was misleading and called for a fact-check.
Harris made the point during Tuesday's debate with former President Trump, and while her wording is open to interpretation, it makes clear that U.S. troops are at risk around the world.
“As of today, there are not a single American military member on active duty in a combat zone in any war zone anywhere in the world. For the first time this century,” Harris said during ABC's presidential debate.
The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that while troops are stationed in a variety of dangerous locations, these deployments are conducted by executive branch agencies and are not part of any war declared by Congress.
“Military service obligations may include serving in locations where hostilities may occur,” the defense official said. “Those locations will be designated by Presidential orders and the Secretary of Defense.”
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“However, it is important to note that just because service members are in any of these locations does not mean they are serving at war,” the official added. “The United States is not currently engaged in war and does not have forces engaged in combat in any combat zone around the world.”
Vice President Kamala Harris caused a stir in an interview with ABC TV host Brian Taff in Philadelphia when asked how to bring prices down. (Screenshot/6 ABC Philadelphia)
Mark Montgomery, a retired Navy rear admiral and senior director of the Cyber and Technology Innovation Center at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the US has “quietly stopped designating war zones over the past few years.”
“So I would ask: Is anyone getting combat-related hazardous activities pay?” Montgomery added. “The answer is yes,” he said, pointing to Syria as an example.
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The Pentagon declined to comment on whether troops in countries such as Syria, Jordan and Iraq, or at bases across the Middle East, received hazard pay in the past 10 months, given Iran's support for proxies such as the Houthis and Hezbollah.
Transfer cases are lowered during a solemn transfer ceremony for the bodies of three U.S. soldiers killed in a drone attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, Feb. 2, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Military.com, hazardous duty pay is paid at $225 per month and is paid to service members who are exposed to hostile fire, hostile mine explosions or other hostile acts while serving in a hostile fire area, are exposed to a hostile fire event, or are killed, wounded or injured by a hostile fire or explosion.
Service members in Lebanon have been eligible for hazardous duty pay since 1983, while those in Syria have been eligible for ground and air combat pay since 2003 and 2014, respectively. Iraq has maintained eligibility since 1990.
Robert Greenway, a US special forces combat veteran who served as senior director of the National Security Council under the Trump administration, noted that the US has had troops deployed to combat zones “continuously” since the 1991 Gulf War.
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“This allegation is particularly egregious because she is the current vice president and should know that we recently conducted a raid in Syria that killed a senior ISIS commander, and that several U.S. military personnel had to be medically evacuated after another raid against ISIS in Syria,” Greenway told Fox News Digital. “Less than a month ago, Al-Asad Air Base was attacked by Iranian-backed terrorists, several service members were injured in Iraq, and our ships are under attack almost daily in the Red Sea.”
This photo taken on January 4, 2024, shows the headquarters of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitary group in Baghdad, which was the target of a U.S. strike that same day. (Ahmad Al-Rubai/AFP via Getty Images)
“It is a dereliction of duty for the current vice president to be unaware of our nation's military operations in combat overseas,” Greenway added.
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The US has about 2,500 troops in Iraq alone, but Iraqi officials said this week they have drawn up tentative plans to withdraw most US troops by 2025, leaving a remnant in place, according to The Washington Post.
“The first phase will start this year and last until 2025. The second phase will end in 2026,” Iraqi Defense Minister Thavit al-Abbasi said during a television appearance.
