R.I.P.
Via Military Com:
The Defense Department has released the name of a decorated sailor killed in an improvised explosive device blast in northern Iraq.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, 34, of Anaheim, California, died Thursday of wounds sustained in the blast, officials said. Finan was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three out of Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
Finan joined the Navy in 2003. He had been awarded Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Naval Parachutist and Diver insignia and had received many decorations, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V device and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, according to Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a spokeswoman for Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.
According to a Navy announcement, Finan was serving in an advisory capacity to Iraqi forces fighting against Islamic State militants in Iraq at the time of his death.
He is the first service member to die in support of the Mosul offensive, assisting Iraqi Security Assistance Force efforts to take back the northern population hub from Islamic State control.