Junior officer from JBLM dies in Afghanistan
A junior Army officer from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday just a few months into his first combat tour, the U.S. military announced.
Lt. Travis Morgado, 25, of San Jose, Calif., died when insurgents attacked his patrol with a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.
He is the third Lewis-McChord soldier killed in Afghanistan in the last week. Two soldiers assigned to the 17th Fires Brigade died Friday in eastern Afghanistan.
Morgado, who was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, entered the Army in November 2010 and received his commission through the Officer Candidate School one year ago.
He arrived at Lewis-McChord in March after completing training and was assigned to the brigade’s 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. The unit had left for Afghanistan in December for a yearlong deployment.
Two other soldiers from the battalion have died. A local memorial service was held last week for Sgt. Nicholas Dickhut. Another officer, Lt. David Johnson, was the battalion’s first fatality in January.
