In a statement, the defense department said Milliken had been killed "during an operation against al-Shabaab ... in a remote area approximately 40 miles west of Mogadishu ... in support of a Somali National Army-led operation with US Africa Command".
USA forces were conducting an advise-and-assist mission about 40 miles west of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, with members of the Somali National Army when the group came under attack in the middle of the night.
Until then, the US military had only been able to conduct airstrikes against al-Shabaab fighters in self-defense situations when African Union or Somali government troops accompanied by American advisers were under attack.
In recent years, the USA has sent a small number of special operations forces and counterterrorism advisers to Somalia and conducted airstrikes.
It is believed the soldier was a US Navy SEAL while two other Americans were injured in the raid on an al-Shabaab compound.
The U.S. pulled troops out of Somalia after the "Black Hawk Down" battle that saw 18 U.S. servicemen killed and another 73 wounded. This operation is a part of as American's efforts to fight Al Qaeda.
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The new training effort comes as US military leaders see opportunities to work with Somalia's newly elected president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, a dual US-Somali citizen who has embarked on a series of aggressive military reforms amid an ongoing al Shabaab bombing campaign that has repeatedly struck Mogadishu.
A Somali soldier patrols next to the burnt-out wreckage of a auto that was used by suspected al-Shabab fighters on April 16, 2017.
"Senior Chief Kyle Milliken embodied the warrior spirit and toughness infused in our very best Navy SEALs", said Naval Special Warfare Commander Rear Admiral Timothy Szymanski. Hundreds of US special forces rotate through Somalia annually. A force of 50 US troops is tasked with partnering with the Somali army, and additional forces come and go for shorter periods of time.
Pressure is growing on Somalia's military to assume full responsibility for the country's security as the 22,000-strong African Union multinational force, AMISOM, that has been supporting the fragile central government plans to leave by the end of 2020. For many years, he operated with the elite Seal Team 6.
Somalia has been shattered by civil war that began when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 then turned on each other.
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