U.S. soldier killed on Monday identified as Loveland man, 22

A U.S. soldier killed Monday in Afghanistan has been identified as 22-yearold Spc. Gabriel D. Conde of Loveland.

Conde was killed by enemy small arms fire while deployed to the Tagab District in Afghanistan as part of ongoing military operations in the country, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Defense. The death remains under investigation, the Pentagon said.

His death was the second U.S. combat death this year in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported.

Conde was an airborne infantryman assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Conde, a Berthoud High School graduate, enlisted in the Army in 2015 in Loveland and had been assigned to U.S. Army Alaska since 2016. Conde was on his high school’s track team, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.

He deployed to Afghani- stan in September, according to a news release from U.S. Army Alaska. In Afghanistan, he was participating in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, a counterterrorism mission to fight remnants of al-Qaeda.

Since enlisting, Conde had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Parachutist Badge.