Douglas E. Sloan
Major, United States Army
May 14, 1966 – October 31, 2006
Age – 40
Charlevoix, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, NY
Killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while engaged in combat operations in the Waigul Valley, Afghanistan
Major Douglas Emory Sloan died on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. He was killed when his vehicle struck an IED in the Waigul Valley in Afghanistan. Major Sloan was the Commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, New York. His Army career spanned 19 years and he had also served at Fort Benning, Korea, Fort Bragg and Fort Hood. His military awards and decorations include: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Air Assault Badge, Senior Parachutist’s Badge, and the Ranger Tab. Born May 14, 1966 in Duluth, Minnesota, son of Emory and Wendy Sloan of Charlevoix, MI. He attended High School in Charlevoix and graduated from Western Michigan University in 1996.
One of his soldiers remembered him.
“I was a student of his when I was at IOBC. I was injured and hung around for a while doing odd jobs until the Battalion XO put me in the Operations shop. He was a great Platoon Instructor and I learned a lot from him. However, it wasn’t until I graduated and saw him in the halls while I was “hanging out” at Battalion that I really got to know him. He was always smiling and cracking jokes with me and generally made me feel better about my situation (being injured and unable to do what I wanted). I am stationed at Benning now and I am working on a Project for the Commanding General in which I am creating inspiration posters for students on post. I have made a poster of MAJ Sloan (I don’t use his first name because he was always my superior) that I will make sure goes up in one of the Brigade classrooms in order to memorialize him. I am terribly sorry for your loss and the Army has become a sadder place without him. Future Officers have no idea what they are missing being unable to serve under him. I would have followed him into combat anywhere. It is still hard to remember him without getting upset.”