The Pentagon has identified three Americans killed in a blast in the Syrian city of Manbij including the first female U.S. service member killed in combat against the Islamic State group. The blast outside a restaurant on January 16, 2019 left a soldier, a sailor, a Pentagon civilian and a contractor dead. The Department of Defense identified the government personnel as Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of New York; and civilian Scott A. Wirtz, of St. Louis, Mo. Farmer was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Kent, an Arabic linguist, was assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort George G. Meade, Md. Wirtz was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as an operations support specialist.

The Pentagon has identified three Americans killed in a blast in the Syrian city of Manbij including the first female U.S. service member killed in combat against the Islamic State group. The blast outside a restaurant on January 16, 2019 left a soldier, a sailor, a Pentagon civilian and a contractor dead. The Department of Defense identified the government personnel as Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Fla.; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of New York; and civilian Scott A. Wirtz, of St. Louis, Mo. Farmer was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Kent, an Arabic linguist, was assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort George G. Meade, Md. Wirtz was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as an operations support specialist.