The US Army has resumed large-scale battlefield burial training for the first time since the Korean War, preparing soldiers to manage the possibility of mass casualties in a future conflict. The exercises, conducted under Operation Dragon Covenant Phase II, involved military engineers, medical personnel, chaplains and specialists responsible for handling fallen service members. The drills come amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran and growing concerns about the challenges US forces could face in a prolonged, high-intensity war.

During the exercise, soldiers practised digging temporary burial trenches using heavy machinery, including D6 bulldozers. They also tested methods to bury remains without damaging them, allowing forensic teams to recover, identify and eventually return them to families after hostilities end. The Army said large-scale temporary battlefield interment has not been required since the 1950–1953 Korean War. During the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, US forces generally had the ability to transport fallen personnel back to the United States.

The exercise also measured how quickly troops could prepare temporary burial sites. Under the Army's standard arrangement, a burial plot consists of five parallel trenches designed to accommodate up to 100 bodies. During earlier trials, soldiers using conventional backhoes took around three hours to excavate a trench for 10 remains. In the latest exercise, operators prepared a trench capable of holding 20 remains in an average of one hour and 15 minutes using D6 bulldozers.

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Based on the results, the Army estimated that an engineer company equipped with eight bulldozers and four specialised military excavators could prepare and cover trenches for as many as 2,400 remains within 24 hours, provided operations continued without interruption. Soldiers also discovered that existing guidelines on trench spacing were too narrow for modern bulldozers. The findings are expected to contribute to revisions in the military's procedures for handling casualties during large-scale combat operations.

The training extended beyond excavation and burial techniques. Military chaplains and religious affairs personnel practised ways to provide spiritual support while ensuring that fallen personnel are treated with dignity. Officials acknowledged that during intense combat, teams may not have enough time to conduct individual religious ceremonies or determine the faith of every deceased person. One approach discussed was consecrating the burial site in advance so that remains could be treated with respect even when individual services were not possible.

The Army said the exercise was intended to replace improvised responses with a systematic approach to managing mass casualties. US military guidelines generally require remains to be evacuated whenever battlefield conditions allow, but permit temporary burial when transportation is unavailable or moving the dead is unsafe. The next phase of Operation Dragon Covenant is planned for spring 2027 and will incorporate security teams, medical facilities and mortuary affairs operations.

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