Military deaths

The Defense Department last week identified the following U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Nicholas D. Eischen, 24, of Sanger, Calif.; senior airman, Air Force. Eischen died Monday at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in a noncombat-related incident. He was assigned to the 60th Medical Operations Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

George J. Howell, 24, of Salinas, Calif.; private first class, Army. Howell died Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Iraq, of wounds suffered in a roadside bomb blast that hit his convoy. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Infantry Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, New York.

Rowdy J. Inman, 38, of Panorama Village, Texas; captain, Army. Inman was one of two soldiers killed Wednesday in Mosul, Iraq, by small-arms fire during dismounted combat operations. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Corps at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Peter C. Neesley, 28, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.; sergeant, Army. Neesley died Tuesday in Baghdad, Iraq, of an undetermined cause in a noncombat environment. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Ft. Stewart, Ga.

Benjamin B. Portell, 27, of Bakersfield; sergeant, Army. Portell was one of two soldiers killed Wednesday in Mosul, Iraq, by small-arms fire during dismounted combat operations. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Corps at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Bryan J. Tutten, 33, of St. Augustine, Fla.; sergeant, Army. Tutten died Tuesday in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Sources: Department of Defense, Associated Press