Westover Air Reserve Base Staff Sgt. Ronald Ouellette, killed in Kuwait, was a passenger on ATV ‘joy ride,’ report says
Updated 10:10 PM;
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CHICOPEE A 23-year-old Air Force reservist killed in Kuwait last fall was a passenger on an ATV that was being driven without authorization and speeding when it flipped on its side in the sand, a military investigation concluded.
Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, was a member of Westover Air Reserve Base’s 24th Aerial Port Squadron but assigned to the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. He died Sept. 14.
By 2nd Lt. Alexander L. Hubbert, 721st Aerial Port Squadron / Published April 09, 2021
725th Air Mobility Squadron Guidance and Control Maintainer, Staff Sgt. Joseph Cho, teaches 721st Aerial Port Squadron Air Transportation Specialist, Senior Airman Juwan White, how to marshal a C-17 into position at Morón Air Base, April 6, 2021. Airmen of the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing have been demonstrating the Wing’s Nodal Agile Combat Employment at the air base since the beginning of March. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Dodd)
726th Air Mobility Squadron, Staff Sgt. Damien Cook halts a C-17 into parking position on his own, for the first time, after being trained by 725th Air Mobility Squadron maintainers at Morón Air Base, April 6, 2021. Since the beginning of March, Airmen of the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing have been demonstrating the Wing’s Nodal Agile Combat Employment at the air base with a team of 21 Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by
By CAITLIN M. KENNEY | STARS AND STRIPES Published: April 13, 2021 WASHINGTON Speed and lack of protective gear during a “joyride” of a vehicle led to the rollover death in September of an Air Force reservist in Kuwait, according to an investigation released Tuesday. Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, N.H., died Sept. 14 when the single all-terrain vehicle in which he was a passenger rolled and pinned him to the ground in a cargo yard near the flight line at Ali Al Salem Air Base. His home unit was the 42nd Aerial Port Squadron out of Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts. During his deployment to Kuwait, he was assigned to the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron at the base.
Airman killed in ATV rollover was ‘just out joyriding’ 7 hours ago
Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Ouelette, 42nd Aerial Port Squadron member, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, died in a single all-terrain-vehicle non-combat related accident on the flightline at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, Sept. 14, 2020. (Courtesy Westover Air Reserve Base) A 23-year-old airman who died in an all-terrain utility vehicle accident in Kuwait last fall was the passenger on an unauthorized joyride gone wrong, the Air Force said in a new investigation report published Tuesday. The Air Force found that the driver of the Army-owned Polaris Ranger failed to follow its owner’s manual, and violated multiple Air Force and Defense Department safety regulations by taking the vehicle out for a reason unrelated to work and attempting to pull a fast U-turn on the sand.
High-Speed Joy Ride Caused ATV Rollover That Killed Airman
Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, New Hampshire. (U.S. Air Force/42nd Aerial Port Squadron/Facebook)
13 Apr 2021
A sharp turn at a high rate of speed caused an Army Polaris Ranger all-terrain utility vehicle to flip at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, last September, pinning down and killing the airman in the passenger seat.
That s according to a new Air Force ground investigation report into the fatal mishap.
Staff Sgt. Ronald Ouellette, 23, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, died in the non-combat related accident Sept. 14. Ouellette and the driver, only identified as an active-duty staff sergeant, were not wearing seatbelts, helmets, eye protection or long-sleeved shirts as required by regulations, the mishap report released Tuesday states.