The Department of Defense announced the identities of the five U.S. Army special operations aviation soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash on Friday in the Mediterranean Sea.
The soldiers, who were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), were conducting routine flight training on an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when the aircraft experienced an in-flight emergency, which resulted in a fatal crash.
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They were identified: 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; and Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
“We mourn the loss of these five incredible soldiers, each of them a national treasure. They hail from rare patriotic families with deep military service ties that span multiple generations and formations,” Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said in a statement on Monday.
“This is devastating news that reverberates across the entire Special Operations community. Every loss is tough, but in this case, service to the nation is truly a family business, and it’s hard to express the amount of sorrow that we all feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, their loved ones, and their fellow soldiers,” he added. “Like the Special Operations community always does, we will wrap our arms around them, grieve with them, and promise to never forget them.”
Dwyer graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 2009 and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and four Army Commendation Medals, among many others. Barnes did a tour in South Korea and Afghanistan and deployed multiple times to Iraq, where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor device, Air Medal with Combat device, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, among others.
Grone enlisted in 2017 and deployed multiple times to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, as well as to Afghanistan, while Southard spent time in Afghanistan. Wolfe joined the Army in 2018 as a Black Hawk repair specialist.
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“Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, Staff Sgt. Tanner Grone, Sgt. Andrew Southard, and Sgt. Cade Wolfe were truly SOF professionals and are among the nation’s finest soldiers. Their loss has left an indelible void within this Regiment that will never be filled,” said Col. Roger P. Waleski Jr., commander of the 160th SOAR.
This regiment was among the thousands of U.S. forces deployed to the Middle East due to Israel’s war with Hamas. The U.S. troops are there to serve as a deterrent to nations in the region considering broadening the war.
