FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Three U.S. Army Special Operations Command Soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan last week when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device there.

Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Mogensen and Spc. Joseph A. Jeffries were fatally wounded while returning to their base of operations near Kandahar when the IED detonated as they tried to avoid another explosive device in the road.

Eggers, 28, a Special Forces detachment commander, and Mogensen, 26, a Special Forces weapons sergeant, were both assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Jeffries, 21, was a psychological operations specialist assigned to the 320th Psychological Operations Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Portland, Ore.

The explosion also killed a U.S. Navy Sailor. All four service members were attached to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force -- Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The incident is under investigation.

Eggers, a native of Cape Coral, Fla., graduated from The Citadel Military College of South Carolina in May 1997 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He completed Special Forces training in 2002 and was assigned to 1st Bn., 3rd SFG in May 2003 following Arabic language training. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and his sons, John, 6, and William, 3.

A native of Leesville, La., Mogensen enlisted in the Army in 1995 and served in a number of Special Forces assignments with the 3rd SFG. He was a senior Special Forces noncommissioned officer and spoke French. Mogensen is survived by his wife, Tanya, and three children, Joshua, 10, Vanessa, 6, and Leilani, 8 weeks.

Jeffries, of Beaverton, Ore., joined the Army in October 2001 and completed the Psychological Operations Specialist Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. He is survived by his wife, Betsy, of Beaverton, and his parents, Mark and Linda Jeffries, also of Beaverton.