Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal, 19, died Thursday in Baghdad in what the Defense Department is calling a noncombat incident, according to a news release distributed by the Pentagon on Friday night.
It's not immediately clear how he died and what specifically the military is investigating.
Neal, of Riverside, Calif., joined the Marine Corps in July 2013 and was serving on his first deployment, officials said. He was a mortarman with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, an infantry unit based in Twentynine Palms, Calif.
His battalion is assigned to the Marine Corps' newly created crisis-response unit for U.S. Central Command. About 2,300 Marines are deployed with that group, which the service calls a special-purpose Marine air-ground task force because it contains both combat elements and aviation support. Most are based in Kuwait, but about 150 have been detached to protect American facilities in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reported.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/missing-osprey-crew-member-presumed-dead/16602455/

According to the Defense Department's casualty release list, Neal is the first American service member to die supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. The campaign to combat Islamic State's advances in Iraq and Syria has focused primarily on air strikes, though some U.S. ground troops are advising the Iraqi military.
Another Marine, Cpl. Jordan Spears, was lost in the Persian Gulf on Oct. 2 when he jumped from an MV-22 Osprey that nearly crashed after taking off from the amphibious assault ship Makin Island. He was assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which also has been involved in the fight against Islamic State.
From USATODAY.COM