By: Michele Marcotte

A Barksdale Air Force Base airman was killed Thursday in Afghanistan, according to a colleague of the soldier's wife present when she was notified of her husband's death.Bryan Bell, 23, was an explosive ordnance disposal technician.

His wife Alaina, who manages a Shreveport UPS store, was notified of his death Thursday at the store by Barksdale Air Force Base, according to store owner Preston Friedley.

The Air Force today confirmed Bell's death, as well as the deaths in the same attack of two other airmen from other bases. The Air Force Global Strike Command release said the men died at Shir ghazi, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Bell was assigned to the 2nd Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.

Also killed were Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City, Mich., assigned to the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and Airman 1st Class Matthew R. Seidler, 24, of Westminster, Md., assigned to the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

"We're very saddened by this whole situation," Friedley said.

Jim Hawryliw, a family friend who knew Bell since he was a baby, said Bell was a "funny" and "outgoing" guy who loved serving his country and community. Prior to joining the military, Bell worked with Hawryliw as a Harborcreek Township, Pa., firefighter.

"He died doing what he loved and he served our country proud," Hawryliw said.

Bell was deployed to Afghanistan in November and previously served in Iraq. During his time in Iraq, he was photographed for an Associated Press report on military reaction to "The Hurt Locker." The film details the story of an elite U.S. Army bomb squad during the Iraq War. In a March 2010 newspaper article about his experience in Iraq, Bell told The Erie Times-News that being an EOD technician was the job he wanted after taking a military aptitude test.

"I love it. It's exciting," he told the Pennsylvania newspaper, which identified him as part of a team called to diffuse, dismantle or detonate weapons caches or explosive devices.

Bell's remains were transported Friday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where his family, including wife, went to meet him, Hawryliw said. Funeral arrangements have not yet been decided, Hawryliw said. But he anticipated they would be held late next week at the earliest.