CW2 Shane M. Barnes

10 November 2023, Mediterranean Sea

160th SOAR

A native of Sacramento, California, Chief Warrant Officer Two Shane M. Barnes died on 10 November 2023 when the MH-60M Black Hawk helicopter he was copiloting crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.

After graduating Gonzaga University in 2011, Barnes attended flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama (Fort Novosel since 2023), earning a commission as an Aviation Officer and becoming an UH-60L Black Hawk pilot. His first assignment was as a platoon leader with an assault helicopter battalion in Korea. In 2015, he favorably assessed for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). He completed Officer Green Platoon in 2016 and was assigned as an MH-60M Direct Action Penetrator Pilot in Company C, 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR, serving as a platoon leader and operations officer. In 2020, he resigned his commission and became a Warrant Officer. He deployed multiple times with the 160th SOAR in support of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

CW2 Barnes was a Fully Mission Qualified MH-60M pilot serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR at the time of his death.