SSgt. Emily Clayburn died instantly when a falling two-ton crate struck her next to a warehouse loading dock at MacDill AFB, Fla., in January, according to the Air Mobility Command release discussing the findings of the accident investigation into her death. The mishap occurred on Jan. 14. Clayburn, 29, was a member of MacDill’s 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron. The accident investigation board determined that the crate, which housed a KC-135 refueling boom, rolled off of the loading dock and struck Clayburn after she had released the brakes on one of the two warehouse dollies supporting the crate, according to AMC’s Aug. 2 release. The investigators noted several factors “relevant to the mishap,” including a high daily operations tempo and the lack of formal risk assessments.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.