To the Special Tactics Family,

It is with great sadness I report that we have lost a Special Tactics brother over the weekend. An MH-47 with 22 souls on board crashed in Afghanistan at approximately 1600 ET Saturday night. Of the eight on board killed, one was TSgt Scott Duffman, 24 STS PJ. Three other ST personnel, SSgt Eric Brauch (24 STS CCT), SSgt Tim Trisko (24 STS PJ), and SRA Marc-Daniel Houghton (38 RQS PJ) were seriously wounded in the crash.


TSgt Brauch is currently enroute to Andrews, while SSgt Trisko and SRA Houghton remain at Landstuhl, GE.

At the time of the crash they were providing CSAR coverage to several ongoing operations. The cause of the aircraft accident appears to be catastrophic engine failure aggravated by icing conditions, but has not been officially determined.

Please join all of us here at Hurlburt and our deployed locations as we come together to provide support and love for the families, friends and teammates of our fallen warrior. TSgt Duffman's memorial is scheduled for Thursday, 22 Feb 1300 hrs at Pope AFB. He is survived by his wife Mary and daughter Sophia.

We will pass information to you on the funeral service as we get it.

Sincerely, Col Marc Stratton
720 STG/CC