The Military has launched the names of four soldiers who were killed Wednesday when the navy helicopter they have been on crashed close to a base in Washington state.
The victims are chief warrant officers Andrew Cully and Andrew Kraus, and sergeants Donavon Scott and Jadalyn Good, the Military stated Monday in a release.
Cully, 35, was from Sparta, Missouri. Kraus, 39, was from Sanibel, Florida. Scott, 25, was from Tacoma, Washington, and Good, 23, was from Mount Vernon, Washington.
They have been a part of the one hundred and sixtieth Particular Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite group that does nighttime missions, when their MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed at about 9 p.m.
The helicopter was on a routine flight coaching west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in response to the U.S. Military Particular Operations Command. The bottom is about 10 miles south of Tacoma beneath the jurisdiction of the U.S. Military Joint Base Headquarters.
The reason for the crash stays beneath investigation. The skies within the space have been largely clear with mild winds from the south across the time of the crash, in response to the Nationwide Climate Service.
U.S. Military Particular Operations Command
Cully was commissioned in Could 2013 as a U.S. Military aviation officer from Missouri State College and was deployed to serve in Operation Atlantic Resolve and Operation Swift Response, in response to the Military. Kraus joined the Military in 2017 and has supported a number of coaching missions and deployed in assist of contingency response operations. Scott enlisted within the Military as a UH-60 helicopter repairer, and has served on two assist missions to Operation Inherent Resolve. Good served as a helicopter maintainer and was “instrumental within the success” of quite a few coaching missions, the Military stated.
All 4 troopers earned a number of awards, together with the Meritorious Service Medal and the Military Service Ribbon.
The troopers “embodied the unwavering dedication, selflessness, and excellence that outline the very spirit of the Military and Military Particular Operations,” Col. Stephen Smith stated within the launch.
“As we mourn their loss, we stand united in honoring their reminiscence and their extraordinary dedication to the mission. Our ideas and prayers are with their households, family members, and your complete Evening Stalker neighborhood throughout this profoundly tough time,” Smith stated.
Their regiment’s mission is to arrange, equip and make use of Military particular operations aviation forces all over the world, in response to the Military’s web site.
“Referred to as Evening Stalkers, these troopers are acknowledged for his or her proficiency in nighttime operations,” the web site stated. “They’re extremely educated and able to accomplish the very hardest missions in all environments, anyplace on this planet, day or night time, with unparalleled precision.”
This was the second lethal crash of this elite unit lately.
5 Military aviation particular operations forces have been killed when a helicopter crashed in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2023 throughout a routine air refueling mission as a part of navy coaching. They have been all a part of the Military’s one hundred and sixtieth Particular Operations Aviation Regiment primarily based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
In March 2024, two troopers from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord SOAR unit have been hospitalized when their Apache helicopter crashed on the base throughout a routine coaching train.
