Families of US servicemembers killed in Iraq crash describe loved ones

A U.S. military refueling plane crash in western Iraq killed six service members who were supporting operations against Iran, U.S. officials said. Families of the victims described the airmen and their service roles as the military identified the dead late Saturday and said the crash was being investigated.

U.S. Central Command said the aircraft was in “friendly” airspace Thursday when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred. The other plane landed safely, U.S. military officials said.

Among those killed was Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky, a mother raising two children. Her husband, Gregory Pruitt, described her as devoted to her work and said in a phone interview, “I’ll give you something brief: in a word, radiant,” adding, “If there was a light in the room, she was it.”

The article said Pruitt was raising the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, and that the survivor list also included Sgt. Pruitt’s stepson. It described Pruitt as having nearly 900 combat flight hours and two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force, after joining the military nine years ago and deploying overseas three times.

Most recently, Pruitt served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Alabama, as an assistant flight chief of operations and an instructor in operating the boom on the KC-135. The KC-135 refuels other planes in midair so they can fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing.

U.S. officials said three of the victims were connected to Sumpter Smith and the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and the other three were from an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus. U.S. Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, said in a news release, “To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad,” and that “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.”

Maj. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, the Ohio adjutant general, said the three from Columbus were “remarkable Airmen whose service and commitment embodied the very best of our Ohio National Guard.”

The Ohio National Guard identified Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, as an instructor pilot for the KC-135R Stratotanker with 19 years of service. The article said Koval was an aircraft commander with the 121st Air Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus and had trained pilots in air refueling and aeromedical, cargo and passenger operations.

In a family statement posted on Facebook, Koval’s wife, Heather, said Koval “grew up dreaming about becoming a pilot and to stand beside him as he made his dreams come true was an honor.” She later wrote, “I will see him in the smile of our son and carry him with me in every moment.”

The other Ohio-area victims were also described in family statements. Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, was described as a KC-135R pilot with the 166th Air Refueling Squadron who lived in Columbus, after getting a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati and enlisting in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015.

Maj. John A. “Alex” Klinner, 33, had been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week before the crash, his brother-in-law said. The article said Klinner left behind 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, according to James Harrill, who said, “Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him,” and that Harrill believed Klinner was “literally one of the most kindest, giving people.”

Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, served with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 166th Air Refueling Squadron as a boom operator, according to an Air Force biography. The article said Simmons’ mother was making funeral plans, and that Simmons’ family said in a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus that “Tyler’s smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life.”

The article said Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, was a pilot with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron and served as its chief of current operations, including responsibilities for the flying hour program and daily flight scheduling. It said Savino was from Covington, Washington, and had been made captain in 2021.

The crash occurred during efforts that rely on the KC-135 fleet. The Congressional Research Service said the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve, and that the aircraft has been in service for more than 60 years.