<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">The U.S. Navy has identified <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4535160/us-navy-identifies-missing-sailor-as-hsc-5-commanding-officer/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards</a> as the missing sailor who was aboard a helicopter that went down in the Arabian Sea on July 1.</p><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">Commander Edwards was the top officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5. He was declared missing after three members of his four-person MH-60S Seahawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after what the Navy said was an emergency water landing during a routine patrol. He is now presumed to be dead.</p><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">In a statement on Sunday, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said Navy and Air Force personnel had searched over 14,000 square miles for more than 100 hours <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/us/politics/navy-helicopter-crash-arabian-sea.html" title="">before calling off the rescue operation</a>. Military officials have said the incident was not the result of hostile fire, and that the cause of the crash was under investigation.</p><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">The acting secretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, said <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://x.com/usnavy/status/2074597070296482189?s=51" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">in a statement</a> on Tuesday that he had directed that Commander Edwards be posthumously promoted to the rank of captain.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">The death of Commander Edwards brought the number of service members who have died in the war against Iran to 14.</p><p class="css-140ip4z e1me5xab0">Commander Edwards, a native of Oakland, Ore., graduated in 2006 from Norfolk State University with a bachelor’s degree in physics and was commissioned through the Naval R.O.T.C., according to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4535160/us-navy-identifies-missing-sailor-as-hsc-5-commanding-officer/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">the Navy statement</a> on Tuesday. He served in several helicopter assignments in his career and also served as a ground controller spotting targets for Special Operations missions. He assumed command of Combat Squadron 5 in July 2025.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>