Erik S. Kristensen  Erik Samsel Kristensen (March 15, 1972 – June 28, 2005) was a Lieutenant commander of the United States Navy SEALs who was killed in action during Operation Red Wings. He and several other SEALs set off as part of a search and rescue mission, hoping to assist a four-man SEAL team that was engaged in a firefight with Taliban fighters. Kristensen was born into a military family of partial Danish and Norwegian ancestry. His father, Edward Kristensen, is a career officer in the United States Navy who rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. As his father was in the military, Erik traveled widely with his family as a child, living in such places as Japan, Guam, California, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., among others. He graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. in 1990, and continued his education at Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts) before moving on to the United States Naval Academy, where he majored in English. After graduation in 1995, he was commissioned an ensign and served in the engineering and combat systems departments of USS "Chandler" in Everett, Washington. He attended the Graduate Institute at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, while he taught English at the U.S. Naval Academy. He left both his graduate studies and teaching at the Academy to pursue a career as a Navy SEAL. He reported to Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea, Air, Land training (BUD/S) at Coronado, California at age 27, making him one of the oldest in his class. Kristensen graduated with class 233 in March 2001. He then completed Parachute Training and SEAL Qualification Training. His first assignment was to SEAL Team EIGHT as a platoon commander. On June 28, 2005, a four-man Navy SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was assigned to keep eyes on Ahmad Shah (nom de guerre Mohammad Ismail), who had no affiliation with the Taliban other than fighting against Anti-Coalition Forces but who was responsible for operations in eastern Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountains. The SEAL team was made up of Matthew Axelson, Danny Dietz, Marcus Luttrell, and Michael P. Murphy. Luttrell was rear medical, Axelson the team's sniper; Dietz was the communications officer and Murphy the team leader. The four SEALs engaged local Taliban forces, they were engaged in an intense gun battle against a force of approximately 30–40 enemy fighters.