Officials at JB Elmendorf, Alaska, have identified the four airmen who died in the base’s C-17 crash. They are Maj. Michael Freyholtz, 34, pilot with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 249th Airlift Squadron; Maj. Aaron Malone, 36, 249th AS pilot; Capt. Jeffrey Hill, 31, instructor pilot with the active duty 517th AS; and MSgt. Thomas Cicardo, 47, 249th AS loadmaster. (See Friday’s Daily Report coverage.) Freyholtz, from Hines, Minn., joined the Alaska ANG in 2007 after nine years in the active duty. He had more than 3,500 flight hours. Malone was a 12-year Air Guard pilot from Anchorage, Alaska, with more than 2,100 flying hours. Hill, from York, Pa., earned his commission in 2002 and was the lone active duty airman to perish. Cicardo, of Anchorage, had more than 5,400 flying hours during his 28 years of military service. This July 28 crash was USAF’s first fatal C-17 flight mishap. (For more on each airman, visit this Web page.) (See also Elmendorf report by John Pennell)
The Air National Guardsman who was arrested last year for sharing hundreds of top secret and classified documents to online chatrooms was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Nov. 12 after pleading guilty to several charges this March.