The U.S. military has lost five service members in less than three weeks — and none of them were killed in combat.
Army Spc. Miguel L. Holmes of the Georgia Army National Guard died on Monday from his injuries stemming from a non-combat related incident in Afghanistan, defense officials have announced.
Holmes, 22, was originally from Hinesville, Georgia, and he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team based in Savannah, defense officials said. His military awards include the Army Service Ribbon and National Defense Service Medal.
No details about the circumstances surrounding his death were immediately available on Wednesday.
His death is the latest in a series of non-combat related fatalities:
- Army Pfc. Michael A. Thomason, 28, died on April 29 from wounds he sustained in Kobani, Syria. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
- Army Spc. Michael T. Osorio, 20, died on April 23 in Taji, Iraq. Osorio was with the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division based out of Fort Carson, Colorado.
- Army Spc. Ryan Dennis Orin Riley, 22, died on April 20 in Ninawa province, Iraq. He was serving with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at the time of his death.
- Air Force Staff Sgt. Albert J. Miller, 24, died on April 19 at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, while serving with the 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Defense officials have not released any information about how these five service members died. Army and Air Force investigators are still looking into all five deaths, defense officials told Task & Purpose.
At this point, Army Criminal Investigation Command does not see a connection between any of the four non-combat deaths of soldiers, said CID spokesman Christopher Grey.
UPDATE: This story was updated on May 8 to include comments from Army and Air Force investigators.