DOD Identifies Navy Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Slayton Saldana, 24, had been listed Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) following a July 17 non-combat, man overboard incident while underway onboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in the Arabian Sea. The incident is under investigation.

Saldana was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5, part of Carrier Air Wing 7, assigned to the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

For more information, media may contact the LT Christina Gibson, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Naval Central Command, at 011-973-1785-4562 or christina.gibson@me.navy.mil.

DOD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Both soldiers died July 29, 2019, in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained in a combat related incident. The incident is under investigation.

The deceased are:
Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer, 20, of Stryker, Ohio.
Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance, 24, of Chicago, Illinois.

Both soldiers were assigned to 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

For more information regarding Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer and Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance, media may contact Lt. Col. Mike Burns, Public Affairs Officer, 82nd Airborne Division, at (910) 432-6189 or michael.j.burns34.mil@mail.mil.

Two Men Arrested for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

     TUCSON – John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Michael Bailey, the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, Michael McGarrity, Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, and Sean Kaul, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office, announced that on July 26, Ahmed Mahad Mohamed and Abdi Yemani Hussein, were arrested for conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.   

     According to the criminal complaint, the defendants had been in communication with an FBI undercover employee whom they believed was a supporter of ISIS ideology.  These communications revealed the defendants’ desire to travel overseas in order to fight on behalf of ISIS or to conduct an attack within the United States if they were unable to travel.  Ultimately, the defendants purchased airline tickets to travel to Egypt, with the intention to travel on to Sinai and join ISIS.  FBI agents arrested Mohamed and Hussein after they checked in for their flight at the Tucson International Airport in Arizona.

     According to court documents, both defendants came to the United States as refugees from Somalia.  At the time of their arrest, Mohamed had obtained lawful permanent resident status and Hussein remained a refugee.

     The prosecution is being handled by Kevin C. Hakala and Beverly Anderson, Assistant United States Attorneys in the District of Arizona, and Alicia Cook, Trial Attorney with the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

     The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.