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Newark native, 33, was on second tour in Middle East
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
New Jersey National Guard Staff Sgt. Jorge Miguel Oliveira, 33, of Newark, died Wednesday in Afghanistan when Taliban attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Oliveira was conducting reconnaissance along a road in Yahya Khel in Paktika Province when the explosive device detonated. He was assigned to the Security Forces Platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry of the New Jersey Army National Guard. The Riverdale-based unit deployed to Afghanistan in June.
The unit is assigned to the Sharana Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which is assisting the Afghan government establish the law and order and economic and social development in the region.
Oliveira is survived by his parents and a brother and sister.
Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, New Jersey's adjutant general, met Oliveira and other members of the unit during their pre-deployment training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana in April.Rieth described Oliveira was one of the most seasoned non-commissioned officers on the deployment, having served on a detainee operations mission to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2004, in response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 and a year-long combat tour in Iraq in 2008-2009.
