Shannon Kent: The Story of Joe Kent's Wife and Her Service in Special Forces

Shannon Kent, the wife of former U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, was a multilingual Special Forces commando. Joe Kent's resignation is linked to his disagreement with the war in Iran, as well as his personal tragedy, the loss of his wife.

Shannon Kent was killed in 2019 in an ISIS suicide attack in Manbij, northern Syria. In the same attack, three other Americans and approximately 15 Kurdish soldiers and civilians were killed.

Born in 1983 in New York, Shannon Kent enlisted in the Navy in 2003. She was fluent in seven languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Arabic, and served as a cryptologic technician. She had also been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which was successfully treated.

She met Joe Kent during a selection program for the Intelligence Support Activity and they married in 2014. They had two sons, ages 3 years and 18 months when Shannon was killed. After her death, she was promoted and decorated.

Joe Kent wrote a book about Shannon's life entitled "Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War." He remarried Heather Kaiser in 2023.