John Blessinger News Today

Lieutenant General Richard Clark, U.S. Air Force Academy superintendent, hosted a ceremony to dedicate a memorial sculpture honoring the aircrew of an AC-130H Spectre gunship, May 5. Major Paul Weaver, aircraft commander and Academy Class of 1979 graduate,,

The AC-130H gunship belonged to the 16th Special Operations Squadron.  “Spirit 03, tail number 696567 of the 16th Special Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, Florida, became the 7th AC-130 aircraft to be lost in combat,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Joseph Megnia, an evaluator combat systems officer with the 73rd Special Operations Squadron. “We continue to reflect on the names of the lost of Spirit 03.”  The incident resulted in the largest single loss suffered by an Air Force...