An airman died Wednesday near the north gate of Edwards Air Force Base in California, the base said in a Thursday release.
Senior Airman Joseph Connors, who was assigned to the 812th Civil Engineer Squadron, explosive ordnance disposal flight, died at about 6:30 p.m. local time near the gate, on Edwards property.
The release did not say what caused Connors’ death, which is still being investigated. The gate was temporarily closed due to the investigation.
Connors is survived by a wife, who is also an active duty airman at the 412th Test Wing at Edwards.
Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer, the commander of the 412th, said he was ”heartbroken” to announce Connors’ death.
“Senior Airman Connors was one of our ‘rock star’ airmen,” Schaefer said. He was an ”Airman Leadership School distinguished graduate and our 2016 Wing Airman of the Year. Our thoughts and prayers are with [Connors’ wife], our EOD team, and all those supporting in the wake of this tragedy.”
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
