US soldier in Baghdad dies in non-combat incident

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Pentagon announced on Tuesday the non-combat death of a US soldier in Baghdad.

Sgt. Christina Marie Schoenecker, 26, of Arlington, Kansas, died Feb. 19 of causes unspecified in the announcement, other than that the incident was not combat-related and was under investigation.

Her death is the third casualty of the year for the US military’s current mission in Iraq, known as Inherent Resolve. Another American service member died Jan. 8, and a British Army Captain died Jan. 31, both of which were also reported as non-combat related incidents.

Schoenecker was assigned to the 89th Sustainment Brigade, Wichita, Kansas, having enlisted in May 2009 and served as a human resources specialist. She made the rank of sergeant in January 2015, as reported by Military Times.

"We express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Sgt. Christina Marie Schoenecker,” Frankie Murphy, the command executive officer for the 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command, said in a statement.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn the loss of a loved one. We've lost a valuable member of our team, and she will be sorely missed," Murphy added.

According to the Military Times, Schoenecker was on her first deployment and had been in Iraq since June.