The Pentagon has identified the service member killed Sunday in Iraq in a roadside bomb attack as a soldier from the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).
Spc. Alexander W. Missildine, 20, of Tyler, Texas, died Oct. 1 in Ninawa Province, Iraq, as a result of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy, according to a Defense Department press release.
In addition to Missildine, an unidentified service member was wounded in the attack.
The incident remains under investigation, according to the release.
Missildine was a motor transport operator assigned to the 10th Mountain’s 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, located in Fort Polk, Louisiana, according to a Fort Drum press release.
He joined the Army in July 2015. After training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he arrived at Fort Polk in December 2015. Missildine deployed with his unit in September 2017 to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Missildine’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Action Badge, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with one campaign star, National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
His death marks the eighth U.S. service member killed in action fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria in 2017.
Thirteen U.S. troops have lost their lives in combat situations since operations against ISIS began in August 2014, according to the Pentagon. More than 50 have been wounded in action.
In late September, a French paratrooper was killed while advising local forces fighting ISIS, though officials did not specify whether the incident was in Iraq or Syria. It was France’s first combat fatality since it joined the anti-ISIS fight in September 2014.
Source: Military
