The Pentagon confirmed Dec. 3 that Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, the pilot whose F-16 crashed in Iraq on Nov. 27, died when the fighter crashed some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. Officials had listed Gilbert, who was deployed to Balad AB, Iraq, from the 309th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., as whereabouts unknown while remains found at the crash site underwent DNA analysis. An Air Force statement says the Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s office made formal identification on Dec. 1.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the site of U.S. Space Command’s future home Dec. 12 and endorsed the move to establish the headquarters in Alabama after years of political back and forth.
