Tech. Sgt. Anthony E. Salazar, 40, of Hermosa Beach, California, died April 13, at an air base in southwest Asia in a non-combat related incident. The incident is under investigation. He was assigned to the 577th Expeditionary Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Squadron, 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group, U.S. Air Forces Central Command. Salazar was a mechanical systems repairman, whose job was to ensure facility operations at an air base in the Gulf region that is supporting operations against Islamic State militants. Salazar was assigned to the 577th Expeditionary Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Squadron, part of the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group and reporting to U.S. Air Forces Central Command. The unit's headquarters is at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, but Salazar's squadron was assigned elsewhere in the Gulf region.
Born: August 14 1984
Died: December 1, 2024 in Jordan
Capt. William H. Dubois, 30, of New Castle, Colorado, died Dec. 1 when his F-16 aircraft crashed near a coalition air base in the Middle East. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. He attended Rifle High School and the University of Colorado at Boulder. His youth was spent in constant motion: harassing his sister, and participating in sports of all kinds from basketball, soccer, baseball, and swimming to eventing horses competing in the North American Young Riders Championship. While attending Rifle High School, Will was involved in choir, soccer, track, school plays, the National Honor Society, and was elected Senior class president. The Air Force awarded Will a full ride ROTC scholarship in Aerospace Engineering which allowed him to graduate with honors at Colorado State University in Boulder including the Distinguished Graduate award from the 105th ROTC detachment unit. Although Will was dedicated to academics, leadership, and becoming the best Air Force officer, he found time to join the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Upon graduation he learned that he was accepted into an elite pilot training program, ENJEPT (Euro Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training) at Sheppard Air Force base and proceeded on to F16 training at Luke AFB. His first assignment in 2011 was Kunsan, Korean where he proudly flew for the 35th fighter squadron, known as the Pantons, and earned the call sign, Pyro. It was there that he met the love of his life, Ashley Jones. Just last year, he returned to the states with his bride to be, and was based at Shaw AFB in the 77th fighter squadron, the Gamblers, also known as “the worlds greatest”. Ashley and Will married just days before he was deployed to the middle-east.
To be updated…
Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal, 19, of Riverside, California, died Oct. 23, in Baghdad, Iraq, from a non-combat related incident. The incident is under investigation. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command, whose headquarters element deploys from Camp Pendleton, California. Sean graduated in 2013 from La Sierra High School in Riverside and enlisted in the Marine Corps in July of 2013 where he was serving his first deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. Riverside National Cemetery in California - Sec 52B Site 1348
To be updated…
