MSG Benjamin F. Bitner

23 April 2011, Afghanistan

Special Forces

A native of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, Master Sergeant Benjamin F. Bitner died 23 April 2011, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device while his unit was conducting combat operations in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

Bitner enlisted in the Army as an Infantryman in 1991. After completing his Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he served in a variety of infantry assignments.

MSG Bitner graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1999 and was assigned as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served until his death.