Army identifies five special operations soldiers killed during crash in the Mediterranean Sea

Update:

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of five U.S. Army Special Operations aviation Soldiers killed during routine flight training as a result of a helicopter crash, Nov. 10, 2023 in the Mediterranean Sea. There are no indications the crash was caused by enemy / hostile actions.

The MH-60 Blackhawk was conducting aerial refueling training when the aircraft experienced an in-flight emergency resulting in the crash.

The deceased are:

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38 of Clarksville, Tennessee
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California
Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire
Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona
Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.

Earlier:

Five people on board a US military aircraft were killed in a crash during a training flight over the eastern Mediterranean Sea, US officials said on Sunday.

“During a routine air refueling mission as part of military training, a US military aircraft carrying five service members suffered a mishap and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea,” a statement from the US Armed Forces in Europe (Eucom) said.

“All five of the service members onboard the aircraft were killed.”

The identities of the crew members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notifications have been completed, the statement said.

The New York Times reported all five service members were U.S. Army Special Operations forces. Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick, an Army spokesman, confirmed that information to Military Times, but referred additional questions to European Command.

“Search and rescue efforts began immediately, including nearby US military aircraft and ships.”

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation, according to an earlier Eucom statement.

Eucom underlined that the accident had been “purely related to training and there are no indications of hostile activity.”

The incident occurred on Friday evening. There was no information on which unit the aircraft belonged to.

The US recently deployed several warships to the eastern Mediterranean because of the war in Gaza, including the aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gerald R. Ford. Air force squadrons had also already been sent to the region.

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