A Virginia-based SEAL was killed in a training accident this week. The Navy has not released any details on the man’s death.
A Navy spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Kara Handley, told WAVY news in Norfolk that a SEAL assigned to SEAL Team 8 died Tuesday, Dec. 7, at Norfolk Sentara General Hospital.
The SEAL was injured during training on Dec. 4 in Virginia Beach.
“Naval Special Warfare is committed to supporting the service member’s family, and our Sailors who lost a teammate during this difficult time,” Handley said.
News of the accident began to circulate on social media Tuesday.
According to NavySealFoundation.org, the death appears to be the first on-duty death of a SEAL since two were killed in May 2017, one in training, the other in combat.
Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Remington Peters was killed on May 28 of that year in a parachuting accident during Fleet Week in New York as part of the Navy parachute demonstration team The Leap Frogs.
Earlier that month, Kyle Milliken, a 38-year-old senior chief from Falmouth, Maine, was killed May 4 in Somalia when attacked by al-Shabab fighters. Milliken was killed and two others were injured.
SEAL Team 8 is based at Little Creek, Virginia, and has eight operational platoons and a headquarters element, according to the Federation of American Scientists, which collects open source information on the military. The team is responsible for operations in the Caribbean, Africa, and the Mediterranean. The unit also deploys teams on traditional Navy ships in the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Fleets.
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