Searchers recovered the body of Capt. Lucas Gruenther, an F-16 pilot from Aviano AB, Italy, in the Adriatic Sea on Thursday, announced the Gruenther family in a statement posted at the base’s website. Gruenther, chief of flight safety for Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing, went missing on Monday after contact was lost with his F-16 over the water during a nighttime training mission. “We will never fully recover from our loss, but take heart in the knowledge that during his all-too-short time in this world, he made a significant difference in the lives of all whom he met,” reads the family’s statement.
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.