Tag Archives: phil ambard

USAF F-16 Fighter Pilot Killed in Afganistan

Along with the USAF Academy press release confirming the death of Maj Phil Ambard, an assistant professor, the Air Force also released the names of the others killed during a gunman’s attack.

Among them was Maj David Brodeur, a 1999 USAF Academy graduate and F-16 pilot.  Brodeur wasn’t in Afghanistan flying the F-16, however.  He was apparently part of a unit training Afghan pilots.

Maj Ambard leaves behind a wife and five children, four of whom have followed him into military service (his daughter just returned from deployment).  Maj Brodeur is survived by a wife and two children.

Update: Official military release on those killed in the attack, indicating LtCol Frank Bryant was also an F-16 pilot killed in the attack.  Maj. Jeffrey Ausborn was also killed; he was a T-6 pilot, though his primary weapons system is unknown.  The military released an additional report intended to dispel inaccurate press reporting on the incident.

USAFA Professor Killed in Afghanistan

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a US Air Force Academy professor was killed in Afghanistan this week.

Maj. Phil Ambard, a foreign-language professor at the academy, was killed in Kabul, according to his daughter, Air Force 1st Lt. Emily Short.

Some people may not realize that a wide variety of people deploy to the combat zones from non-traditional fields.  The Academy likely has several instructors downrange.

Major Ambard reportedly had more than two decades of service in the Air Force.  Remember his family in your prayers.