The Special Forces community is coping with the deaths of six of its elite operators in just a 72-hour span last week.
Separate combat incidents in Afghanistan and Jordan resulted in the deaths of five Green Berets, while another died during scuba training at the Special Forces diving school in Florida.
"They are in dark corners of the world and even their training is very dangerous," Jen Paquette, the executive director of the Green Beret Foundation, wrote on Facebook.
Staff Sgt. David Whitcher, 30, died Wednesday during a dive training exercise off the coast of Key West, Florida, according to US Army Special Operations Command. He was previously assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
On Thursday, Capt. Andrew Byers, 30, and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer, 34, were killed during a firefight with Taliban forces in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Both were assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
Three other soldiers with the Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 5th Special Forces Group were killed while entering a military base in Jordan on Friday. The soldiers, Staff Sgts. Matthew C. Lewellen, 27; Kevin J. McEnroe, 30; and James F. Moriarty, 27, were apparently fired upon by Jordanian security forces at the gate to Prince Faisal Air Base, where they were deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
All six of those deaths are under investigation, the Army said.
