The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
“Operation Enduring Freedom” (OEF) is the official name used by the U.S. Government for the war in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Lyle D. Turnbull, 31, of Norfolk, Va., died Oct. 18, 2013 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, from a “medical emergency.”
Camp Arifjan is a US Army installation located in Kuwait, which accommodates elements of the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard.
Military personnel from the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania and Poland are currently forward deployed there.
Camp Arifjan is located south of Kuwait city, and west of the Shuaiba Port (Military Sea Port of Debarkation/Embarkation, or SPOD) and Kuwait Naval Base (KNB).
Camp Arifjan is a US military installation utilized as a forward logistics base, Aviation Classification and Repair Activity Depot (Task Force AVCRAD) for the entire Southwest Asian Theater (through Patton Army Air Field), helicopter ground support base, and as a motor pool for armored and unarmored vehicles.
The service members deployed to Camp Arifjan are in a variety of different statuses.
Many are active duty and come on a one year Permanent Change of Station (PCS), while some active duty come in a Temporary Change of Station (TCS) status. Additionally, there are many Guard and Reserve units that support a variety of functions in the SWA theater that come on varied length tours…
The cause of Turnbull’ s death is still under investigation. About the only thing we know for sure in this case is that he is dead at this point.
Turnbull was assigned to the 62nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Signal Brigade, out of Fort Hood, Texas.
The 62nd Signal Battalion is part of the 160th Signal Brigade stationed at Camp Afrijan (source: http://www.160thsignalbrigade.swa.army.mil/).
We contacted the Fort Hood public affairs office at (254) 287-9993 or (254) 287-0106 and officials there refused to specify the exact cause of death in this case – which strikes me as rather unusual in this case.
According the 62nd’s Facebook page, Sgt. Turnbull died while participating in the Army Ten Miler Shadow Run at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The message issued supposedly by LTC John Gregor read as follows:
Messenger Family,
It is with a heavy heart that I pass along news of the passing of one of our Messengers. SGT Lyle Turnbull, of C Company, passed away on 18 October 2013 at Camp Arifjan while participating in the Army Ten Miler Shadow Run. As of 19 October, his family has been notified, and I would ask you to please keep SGT Turnbull’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days. We will host a memorial service in the coming days at both Fort Hood and Camp Buehring, and we will provide the details of those events via the chain of command and Family Readiness Group channels.
Sincerely,
LTC John P. Gregor
Source: https://www.facebook.com/62dSignalBattalion