frickenjoey
Official RCNT Cyber-Bully
Supporter
Active Military
Guys, this is a news clip from an incident that happened on Wednesday. These were my co-workers in Afghanistan. I knew 4 of the fallen. The worst part I also worked and had met the shooter. This is what we all mentally prepare ourselves for but hope to god we never have to truly face it. Of all the times I have been in harms way I have always been more afraid for other around me than for my own personal safety. This really hit home....such a painful waste and loss of life for nothing more than we were there trying to help. God rest their souls.
The US military on Friday said the casualties of an attack this week at a Kabul training center were mostly Air Force officers with long careers in uniform.The Pentagon released the names and ranks of the eight service members killed Wednesday when an Afghan ex-pilot opened fire after a disagreement.
A civilian contractor, James A. McLaughlin, was a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was also killed in the incident.
The dead included four Air Force majors, a lieutenant colonel, two captains and a master sergeant.
Among the dead were Major Philip Ambard, 44, a language professor at the Air Force Academy; Major David Brodeur, 34, an F-16 pilot; Major Jeffrey Ausborn, 41, of the 99th Flying Training Squadron in Texas; and Major Raymond Estelle, 40, who served 20 years in the Air Force, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper.
The other casualties were Lieutenant Colonel Frank Bryant, 37; Captain Nathan Nylander, 35; Captain Charles Ransom, 31; and Master Sergeant Tara Brown, 33.
A gunman who opened fire at an air force training center in Kabul, leaving eight US troops and an American contractor dead, appeared to be acting alone, NATO said Saturday.The Afghan ex-pilot involved was shot during the incident on Wednesday and found dead at a different location in the building, after the worst attack of its kind in almost a decade of war.
It was not known what triggered the shoot-out. The Pentagon has said the dead were mostly senior US Air Force officers, including four Air Force majors and a lieutenant colonel.
"At this point in the investigation, it appears that the gunman was acting alone. Beyond that, no Taliban connection with the gunman has been discovered," said a NATO release.
"However, the investigation is still ongoing, and we have not conclusively ruled out that possibility," it said.
The US air trainers' deaths raise fresh questions over the massive NATO-led effort to expand and train Afghanistan's military and police so they can take control of security when foreign combat operations end in 2014.
It was clear how eight armed officers came to die in the incident.
"Preliminary findings of this investigation indicate that the NATO trainers who were killed were armed with weapons and ammunition," said the statement.
Taliban militants have tried to infiltrate the ranks of the Afghan army and police to carry out attacks against international forces from within, a matter of huge concern for both Afghanistan and its NATO-led military backers.
There have been incidents where Afghan army or police recruits have opened fire on NATO troops and caused casualties.
However the Air Force attacker's motives are not yet known, nor was it clear who killed him.
"Initial ballistics analysis and post-event imagery indicate that the alleged gunman, who appeared to be acting alone, was severely wounded prior to departing the room where the initial attack took place," NATO said.
The initial findings show that the the gunman "appeared to be carrying two weapons. The gunman was later found dead at a different location within the building," it added.
The attacker was a 45-year-old former pilot who had been working as an air force administrator, Colonel Mohammed Bahadur Raeeskhail, the Afghan air force's media relations chief said earlier.
An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was from a well-respected Kabul family and that the shooting was the result of a disagreement, not terrorism.
The US military on Friday said the casualties of an attack this week at a Kabul training center were mostly Air Force officers with long careers in uniform.The Pentagon released the names and ranks of the eight service members killed Wednesday when an Afghan ex-pilot opened fire after a disagreement.
A civilian contractor, James A. McLaughlin, was a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was also killed in the incident.
The dead included four Air Force majors, a lieutenant colonel, two captains and a master sergeant.
Among the dead were Major Philip Ambard, 44, a language professor at the Air Force Academy; Major David Brodeur, 34, an F-16 pilot; Major Jeffrey Ausborn, 41, of the 99th Flying Training Squadron in Texas; and Major Raymond Estelle, 40, who served 20 years in the Air Force, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper.
The other casualties were Lieutenant Colonel Frank Bryant, 37; Captain Nathan Nylander, 35; Captain Charles Ransom, 31; and Master Sergeant Tara Brown, 33.
A gunman who opened fire at an air force training center in Kabul, leaving eight US troops and an American contractor dead, appeared to be acting alone, NATO said Saturday.The Afghan ex-pilot involved was shot during the incident on Wednesday and found dead at a different location in the building, after the worst attack of its kind in almost a decade of war.
It was not known what triggered the shoot-out. The Pentagon has said the dead were mostly senior US Air Force officers, including four Air Force majors and a lieutenant colonel.
"At this point in the investigation, it appears that the gunman was acting alone. Beyond that, no Taliban connection with the gunman has been discovered," said a NATO release.
"However, the investigation is still ongoing, and we have not conclusively ruled out that possibility," it said.
The US air trainers' deaths raise fresh questions over the massive NATO-led effort to expand and train Afghanistan's military and police so they can take control of security when foreign combat operations end in 2014.
It was clear how eight armed officers came to die in the incident.
"Preliminary findings of this investigation indicate that the NATO trainers who were killed were armed with weapons and ammunition," said the statement.
Taliban militants have tried to infiltrate the ranks of the Afghan army and police to carry out attacks against international forces from within, a matter of huge concern for both Afghanistan and its NATO-led military backers.
There have been incidents where Afghan army or police recruits have opened fire on NATO troops and caused casualties.
However the Air Force attacker's motives are not yet known, nor was it clear who killed him.
"Initial ballistics analysis and post-event imagery indicate that the alleged gunman, who appeared to be acting alone, was severely wounded prior to departing the room where the initial attack took place," NATO said.
The initial findings show that the the gunman "appeared to be carrying two weapons. The gunman was later found dead at a different location within the building," it added.
The attacker was a 45-year-old former pilot who had been working as an air force administrator, Colonel Mohammed Bahadur Raeeskhail, the Afghan air force's media relations chief said earlier.
An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the gunman was from a well-respected Kabul family and that the shooting was the result of a disagreement, not terrorism.
