Message on Kyle Milliken
Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler sent the following message to the campus community May 8, 2017 - Ed.
Dear William & Mary Community,
It is with deep sadness that I inform you about the death of one of our students who was killed while serving on active duty in the U.S. Navy.
We learned over the weekend that Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, a student in the online MBA program, was killed in action in Somalia. Kyle was a Navy SEAL and a 15-year veteran who had earned four bronze stars during his decorated military career. According to a U.S. Department of Defense announcement, he was killed during an operation on May 5 in a remote area in the African country, about 40 miles west of Mogadishu.
Having grown up in Falmouth, Maine, Kyle was residing in Virginia Beach as part of his military assignment. According to a statement released to the media through the Defense Department, the Milliken family said he was “a devoted father and son, a true professional and a wonderful husband.” Kyle was in his second semester of William & Mary’s online MBA program at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. Actively engaging his coursework from a distance, Kyle was very much a member of the William & Mary community. According to one W&M alumnus who knew Kyle well, “we often spoke about how much he enjoyed the program and was incredibly impressed by the curriculum and people.”
I will provide more information about any public services to honor Kyle as soon as we have additional information. In the meantime, please join me in offering condolences to Kyle’s family and friends, his teammates and fellow sailors in the U.S. Navy, and his classmates at William & Mary.
Sincerely,
Ginger Ambler