Longsworth, Christian

Staff Sergeant Christian Longsworth was a 26-year-old Special Forces engineer sergeant from Newark, New Jersey. He was assigned to Company B, 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His unit had deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

On May 19, 2006, Longsworth was killed during combat operations in Oshay, a village in the mountainous Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan. According to U.S. military reports, his patrol came under enemy small-arms fire. He was the only U.S. service member killed in the engagement.

By 2006, Operation Enduring Freedom was in its fifth year. The Taliban had regrouped and intensified its insurgency, particularly in the volatile eastern provinces bordering Pakistan. U.S. and coalition forces conducted counterinsurgency operations aimed at securing remote areas and training Afghan security forces. Casualties from improvised explosive devices and direct fire were rising.

Longsworth's death was reported by the Department of Defense. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Meritorious Service Medal. He was survived by his wife, parents, and siblings.

Longsworth is memorialized on the Special Forces Memorial Wall at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. His name is also inscribed on Panel 08E, Line 120 of the Afghanistan War Memorial at the National Infantry Museum.

Staff Sergeant Christian Longsworth was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.

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