Pentagon IDs Navy SEAL killed in Sat. Al-Qaida raid
The name of the first U.S. service member killed in combat under the Trump administration was announced by the Pentagon on Monday.
Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill., died after a nighttime raid on an al-Qaida-held village in Yemen on Saturday.
Three other members of Owens’ unit were wounded in the ensuing gunbattle and an additional three service members injured when their transport aircraft crashed nearby.
In a statement, the Pentagon said Owens was assigned to an “East Coast based Special Warfare unit,” a phrase for the elite Navy SEALs, including SEAL Team 6.
“Ryan gave his full measure for our nation, and in performing his duty, he upheld the noblest standard of military service,” Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in a statement. “The United States would not long exist were it not for the selfless commitment of such warriors.”
The Pentagon billed Saturday’s raid as an intelligence-gathering mission against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula militants, a group the U.S. has targeted since 2002. While the last U.S.-led ground operation against the militants was in 2014, the Obama administration has sporadically targeted the group with airstrikes in the years since.
In a statement Sunday, following the announcement of Owens’ death, President Donald Trump said the operation was successful and 14 fighters were killed.
Local reports said that more than a dozen civilians were also slain in the battle, including the daughter of the late radical-Yemeni American cleric, Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed in a 2011 U.S. drone strike. On Monday, the Pentagon said it was assessing the civilian casualty claims.
Owens enlisted in the Navy in 1998, serving first with naval intelligence before volunteering for the SEALs prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to a limited service record provided by the Navy. He finished basic SEAL training in 2002 and was sent to his first unit in 2003.
Owens was previously awarded two Bronze Stars with Valor and had eight Sea Service Deployment ribbons when he was killed. He will be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.