One of the Americans killed alongside Ambassador Christopher Stevens in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Tuesday told ABC News before his death that he was working with the State Department on an intelligence mission to round up dangerous weapons in the war-torn nation.
In an interview with ABC News last month, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them. After the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the State Department launched a mission to round up thousands of MANPADS that may have been looted from military installations across the country. U.S. officials previously told ABC News they were concerned the MANPADS could fall into the hands of terrorists, creating a threat to commercial airliners.
Rest in peace to the fallen. These men fought with every measure of their lives and paid the ultimate sacrifice. They were also contractors, tasked with hunting down MANPADS in Libya, which is of vital national interest…and world wide interest.
Also, my condolences go to Brandon and SOFREP for losing a friend and fellow SOFREP team member. He was the ‘resident Naval Special Warfare’ editor there. Go to this link to read more.
As to the company these men worked for and the specific details of the contract, I haven’t a clue. The three articles I posted below give a background of these two men and a background of the MANPADS task force. Supposedly this same task force which was established in 2006, is looking at Syria to do the same thing. –Matt
Two ex-SEALs from SD killed in Libya
By Debbi Baker, Gretel C. Kovach, Nathan Max
September 13, 2012?
Two of the four Americans killed Tuesday after an attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya were former Navy SEALs from San Diego County.
Glen Doherty, 42, of Encinitas, and Tyrone Woods, 41, of Imperial Beach, were working at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi as security and intelligence contractors. Also killed were the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and information officer Sean Smith. Three others were wounded.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Doherty and Woods “died helping protect their colleagues.
“Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest gratitude are with their families and friends. Our embassies could not carry on our critical work around the world without the service and sacrifice of brave people like Tyrone and Glen,” she said in a statement.
The two former SEALs settled in San Diego County after initial training in Coronado, where all the elite naval special operators must pass a grueling 21-week test of mental and physical endurance.
Doherty, who grew up in the Boston suburb of Winchester, Mass., was a gregarious outdoorsman and high-octane adventurer, a self-proclaimed “high priest” of “The Cult of Recreationalism,” friends and family said.
The pilot, former ski instructor, surfer and trainer at the CrossFit/SEALFIT gym in Encinitas served nine years as a SEAL before getting out in 2005.
