Washington – The Army says a soldier killed on a post in the Middle East last month died in a car accident that also left another soldier permanently disabled.
On May 25, Jayson Reed Haven was riding in a Humvee that overturned at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. He died of his injuries.
Haven, 20, was “supporting range operation” when the Humvee overturned. Aiken Haven, South Carolina, has been assigned to Camp Breen, a transit point for U.S. forces in northern Kuwait.
“The specific circumstances of the accident, including the use of seat belts by the soldiers, the sequence of the accident, and whether speed was a contributing factor, are not known at this time,” according to an early Army assessment of the accident called a preliminary damage report.
The Army did not specify whether the other soldier was injured or permanently disabled in the crash.
The department said at the time of the incident that Safe Haven was supporting Operation Sparta Shield, a military effort aimed at enhancing security, building partnerships in the Middle East and promoting “regional self-reliance.”
Camp Buehring was established in 2003 to assist U.S. forces in the war in Iraq. It was also occasionally used by Allied forces from Kuwait, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
The Army says an average of nine soldiers die each year in government vehicle accidents. The accident in Kuwait is the second government vehicle fatality in fiscal year 2023, the department said. The first occurred in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and resulted in the death of 20-year-old Spc. Mackenzie Shay last October.
Havin’s non-combat death was the second death of a U.S. service member in Kuwait in two days. On May 24, Air Force Major Stephen Khou was killed at Camp Arifjan in southeastern Kuwait. Khou, 36, was a cyber operations specialist and was part of the military’s Operation Inherent Resolve to fight the Islamic State terrorist group.
