A 24-year-old Navy SEAL from Billings is recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., after being critically wounded in Afghanistan by a makeshift bomb.

Navy SEAL Bo Reichenbach was injured by an improvised explosive device in July, said U.S. Navy Lt. Dave Lloyd, public affairs officer for Naval Special Warfare Group 2. He would not disclose the extent of Reichenbach’s injuries.

Lloyd also would not disclose the nature of Reichenbach’s mission, other than to say it was part of the U.S. forces’ “ongoing operations in Afghanistan.”

Reichenbach, the father of a 4-year-old son, Landon, grew up in the Lockwood area. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in March 2008 and became a Seal in May 2010.

SEALs take their name from the environments in which they are trained to operate: sea, air and land. Their small, highly trained teams usually conduct some of the nation’s most critical missions.

He is the son of Crystal and Donald Reichenbach of Billings. They asked Lloyd to speak on their behalf and asked for privacy.

“We are extremely proud of our son and are very grateful for the professional medical treatment he is receiving,” they said in a prepared statement.

Reichenbach is at least the third Montana service member in a month to be injured by an improvised explosive device, one of the primary causes of casualties for service members.

By: Cindy Uken

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