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2 Hurlburt Field Airmen Die in CV-22 Crash

By on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.: Department of Defense officials announced April today 11 the deaths of two Airmen deployed from Hurlburt Field and were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom when they died in a crash of a CV-22 Osprey April 9 near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Killed were:

  • Maj. Randell D. Voas, 43, of Lakeville, Minn;
  • Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey, 45, of Green Clove Springs, Fla.

Both were assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field.

An Army Soldier and a civilian employee also died in the crash, and several other servicemembers were injured.

The CV-22 was carrying U.S. forces when it crashed approximately seven miles west of Qalat City, in Zabul Province. The injured were transported to a nearby base for medical treatment.

Major Voas was a CV-22 evaluator pilot and a former MH-53 Pave Low helicopter pilot. Previously a chief warrant officer in the Army, he received his Air Force commission through Officer Training School in 1999. He flew MH-53 until 2003 before becoming a UH-1 Huey helicopter flight instructor at Fort Rucker, Ala., and he began training on the CV-22 in 2006. He had more than 160 combat flight hours.

Sergeant Lackey, 45, was a CV-22 evaluator flight engineer and a former MH-53 flight engineer. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1986 and became an aircraft maintenance crew chief. In 1992, he began MH-53 flight engineer training and flew on the MH-53 for 14 years before becoming a CV-22 flight engineer student in 2006. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross in 2002 for acts of heroism in combat.

The 8th SOS staff completed its first CV-22 combat deployment in November 2009, and returned to Afghanistan in March for its second deployment.

"The Hurlburt Field community shares in the sorrow felt by the Voas and Lackey families, and our efforts are focused on seeing them through this difficult time," said Col. Greg Lengyel. "We must not forget the valuable contributions Randy and 'JB' made to their country and community."

The CV-22 is a tiltrotor aircraft that enables U.S. Special Operations Command to conduct nighttime, long-range, infiltration and exfiltration missions. Its versatility, speed and vertical-lift capability is not met by any other existing fixed- or rotary-wing platform.

The cause of the crash is unknown at this time. Air Force officials are conducting an investigation into the crash.

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