The Department of Defense officially announced the deaths of two Airmen who were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan (USFOR-A).
On Monday, Lieutenant Colonel Paul K. Voss and Captain Ryan S. Phaneufa died when the U.S. Bombardier E-11A they were operating crashed in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.
[media-credit name=”Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss, left, and Capt. Ryan S. Phaneuf, right” align=”aligncenter” width=”800″]
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While the cause of the crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire, said USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett.
U.S. forces recovered the remains of two pilots from the site where the aircraft went down. The remains were found near the crash site, treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community, in accordance with their culture, said Leggett. The force also recovered the aircraft’s flight data recorder before they destroyed remnants of the aircraft.
The E-11A aircraft is outfitted with a Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). The region’s difficult terrain poses threats to troop’s communication efforts, and the BACN helps keep them connected.
[media-credit name=”U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Anna-Marie Wyant” align=”aligncenter” width=”800″]
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The cause of the crash remains under investigation, however, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire, said, Leggett
Voss, 46, of Yigo, Guam was assigned to Headquarters Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Phaneuf, 30, of Hudson, New Hampshire was assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.