The Defense Department has released the names of the eight airmen killed in Wednesday’s shooting incident at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. They are: Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn. He was assigned to the 56th Operations Group at Luke AFB, Ariz. Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Wash. He was with the 460th Space Communications Squadron at Buckley AFB, Colo. Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Ala. He was assigned to the 99th Flying Training Squadron at Randolph AFB, Tex. Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass. He was assigned to 11th Air Force at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Conn. He was assigned to Headquarters Air Combat Command at Langley-Eustis. Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Tex. He was assigned to the 25th Operational Weather Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Va. He was with the 83rd Network Operations Squadron at Langley-Eustis. MSgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Fla. She was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at JB Andrews, Md. (DOD release)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.