The U.S. Air Force Academy said Tuesday it is investigating a junior’s death on campus after he was found by first responders on Sunday.
Cadet 2nd Class Jesse Fimian, 25, studied political science and planned to join the Space Force, the Colorado school said in a release.
“Jesse will be remembered for his contributions in Cadet Squadron 27 and his passion for space operations,” USAFA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark said in the release. “I send my deepest sympathy to Jesse’s family at home and his newly found family and friends here at USAFA.”
The Brookfield, Massachusetts, native enlisted in the Massachusetts Air National Guard in 2015 as an munitions maintainer on the F-15 fighter jet, according to his LinkedIn page. He left for USAFA’s 10-month preparatory school program in 2019 and began studying at the academy in June 2020.
He said on LinkedIn that he hoped to parlay his focus on space policy and warfighting into a job as a space operations officer.
The academy delayed the start of classes on Monday to notify cadets of Fimian’s death, and made classes and training that day optional so students could mourn.
Fimian is the third USAFA cadet reported to have died this school year.
Cadet 3rd Class Hunter Brown, 21, suffered a medical emergency and died on his way to class on Jan. 9. The El Paso County coroner’s office ruled that Brown died of a blood clot in his lungs caused by a previous injury in football practice, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Cadet 1st Class Cole Kilty, 22, died March 6 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound off-campus, the Gazette reported.
Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.
