The Pentagon identified on Friday an Army soldier who died due to injuries he sustained while in Afghanistan as 26-year-old Sgt. Cameron Meddock. His death is the first U.S. combat casualty from Afghanistan in 2019.
Meddock was originally from Spearman, Texas and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. He was in Afghanistan supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which is part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission.
Meddock was originally injured on Sunday in Jawand District, Badghis Province, Afghanistan, by small arms fire during combat operations. He died Thursday in Landstuhl, Germany as a result of the injuries.
The Trump administration is reportedly aiming to scale down the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan. There are approximately 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and they are are primarily responsible for advising and training Afghan security forces. Operation Resolute Support Mission was first launched in 2015 after the NATO combat mission formally ended in 2014.
