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Casualty Info
Home Town Gadsden, Alabama
Last Address Kabul, Afghanistan
Casualty Date Apr 27, 2011
Cause KIA-Died of Wounds
Reason Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location Afghanistan
Location of Interment Union #3 Baptist Church Cemetery - Ballplay, Alabama
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of eight airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died April 27, at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from gunfire. The incident is under investigation.
Killed were:
Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Wash. He was assigned to the 460th Space Communications Squadron, Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. For more information media may contact the Air Force Academy public affairs office at 719-333-7731.
>>> Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Ala. He was assigned to the 99th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. For more information media may contact the 502nd Air Base Wing public affairs office at 210-652-4410.
Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass. He was assigned to the 11th Air Force, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. For more information media may contact the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson public affairs office at 907-552-2341.
Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Fla. She was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Joint Base Andrews, Md. For more information media may contact the Air Force Office of Special Investigations public affairs office at 571-305-8010.
Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn. He was assigned to the 56th Operations Group, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. For more information media may contact the Luke Air Force Base public affairs office at 623-856-6011.
Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Conn. He was assigned to Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. For more information media may contact the Headquarters Air Combat Command public affairs office at 757-764-5007.
Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas. He was assigned to the 25th Operational Weather Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. For more information media may contact the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base public affairs office at 520-228-3406.
Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Va. He was assigned to the 83rd Network Operations Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. For more information media may contact the 24th Air Force public affairs office at 210-977-5796.
Comments/Citation:
From Gadsden Times:
By Bekah A. Clark
12th Flying Training Wing
Published: Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 11:25 p.m.
Randolph Air Force Base, Texas — An Airman assigned to the 12th Flying Training Wing was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday when a shooter opened fire at the Kabul International Airport, killing eight U.S. servicemembers and one American contractor.
Maj. Jeff Ausborn, a 99th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot, was deployed to the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing where he served as a C-27 instructor pilot. The 19-year Air Force veteran and native of Gadsden, Ala., died of wounds sustained in the shooting. He was 41.
“The loss of Jeff is devastating not only to the squadron but the wing as well. He has served our wing and his nation honorably,” said Col. Richard Murphy, 12th FTW commander. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Jeff’s family and to the families of those affected by this terrible act.”
According to his wife, Suzanna Ausborn, he volunteered last year to go to Afghanistan to teach new Afghan pilots how to fly the C-27 aircraft. He was in a meeting when the attack occurred.
“He was the most compassionate, kind, patient and understanding husband, father, pilot and supervisor,” she said. “He was a great communicator, we talked nearly every day — that’s how I knew something was wrong, I didn’t hear from him. I miss him so much.”
Maj. Ausborn is survived by his wife, Suzanna, and five children, Emily, 15, Eric, 12, Shelby, 10, Mitchell Maloy, 21 and Summer Maloy, 17.
The shooting was the deadliest attack by a member of the Afghan security forces, or an insurgent impersonating them, on coalition troops or Afghan soldiers or policemen. There have been seven such attacks so far this year.
Although the individual circumstances may differ, the incidents of Afghans turning against their coalition partners seem to reflect growing anti-foreigner sentiment independent of the Taliban. Afghans are increasingly tired of the nearly decade-long war and think their lives have not improved despite billions of dollars in international aid.
The Taliban boasted that the gunman was a militant impersonating an army officer.
This claim did not seem credible, however.
Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was an officer who had served as a pilot in the Afghan military for the past 20 years. The gunman — identified as Ahmad Gul, 48, of Tarakhail district in Kabul province — died in an exchange of fire that followed his attack.
The gunman’s brother insisted he was not a Taliban sympathizer.
“He was under economic pressures and recently he sold his house. He was not in a normal frame of mind because of these pressures,” said the brother, Dr. Mohammad Hassan Sahibi. “He was going through a very difficult period of time in his life.”
A date and time for a memorial service for Major Ausborn to be held at Randolph have yet to be determined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Attack in Kabul Worst to Hit Air Force in 15 Years
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Not since the terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia in June 1996 has the U.S. Air Force lost so many personnel in a hostile attack as it did on April 27, when an Afghan pilot opened fire on American service members at Kabul Air Base.
Eight of the nine killed were in the Air Force; the other was a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
Fifteen years ago, 19 airmen perished when terrorists bombed Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The Kabul shootings occurred in an operations room after 48-year-old pilot Ahmad Gul got into an argument with some instructors. Gul managed to get out of the room following his rampage, but was later found dead of gunshot wounds in another part of the base.
Although the Taliban claimed responsibility for the deaths, Gul’s family said he was experiencing financial stress and had no connection to the Taliban.
The Air Force victims were Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Wash.; Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Ala.; Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass.; Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Fla.; Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn.; Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Conn.; Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas; and Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Virginia.
