Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine, was killed May 5 during a fight against al-Shabaab in Somalia, the first US troop to die in that country since 1993. US forces were conducting an advise and assist mission with members of the Somali National Army when they came under fire near Barii, about 40 miles west of Mogadishu. Milliken was assigned to an East Coast-based special warfare unit, according to a DOD release. “Al-Shabaab presents a threat to Americans and American interests,” US Africa Command said in a statement. “Al Shabaab’s affiliate, al-Qaeda has murdered Americans; radicalizes and recruits terrorists and fighters in the United States.” The US military has increased operations in Somalia recently, with a new White House authorization to increase precision fires in support of allied troops.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…