ADVERTISEMENT

McConnell Vice Commander Dies

March 5, 2009

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Col. Michael Krueger, vice commander of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kan., died March 3 on the base of unknown causes, Wichita’s KWCH TV News 12 reported yesterday. Krueger was found unconscious in his on-base home. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead, according to the news report. “He was a devoted husband, father, son, brother, and friend who epitomized the Air Force core values as a wingman, leader, and warrior, and he will be greatly missed by all the members of our Team McConnell family,” said Col. James Vechery, 22nd ARW commander. He added, “I’ve never known a finer person who wore the Air Force uniform.” Krueger’s Air Force biography states that he became the vice commander in May 2008. He joined the Air Force in 1985 and was a command pilot with more than 3,200 flight hours.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Trending Stories

Hegseth Directs Air Force to Establish New Guard Special Tactics Squadron

Bigger Than a Cessna, Smaller Than a C-130: Air Force Funds Blended-Wing Body Concept

What a Russian Satellite Stalking a Commercial Spacecraft Means for the Space Force

Stealthy F-117 Nighthawk Goes on Display at Smithsonian

Related

AFOSI Seeks Enlisted Airmen to Train as Special Agents

Oct. 23, 2026
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is looking for a few good Airmen to swap jobs and become special agents. No, they won’t get the 007 James Bond code—but they could learn to conduct counterintelligence and investigate procurement fraud and major crimes.

DUNE Project Aims to Unite Legacy and Cloud Tools in Air Ops Centers

Oct. 23, 2026
After decades of building isolated, vendor-locked systems to run the Air Operations Centers that serve as the Air Force’s “combat brains,” the program office tasked with creating the next-generation AOC is working to fold those systems into a new cloud-based system.

Pentagon Bets Big on Drone-Killing APKWS Laser-Guided Rockets

Oct. 22, 2026
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.

NORTHCOM Wraps Radar Test to Boost Arctic Early Warning

Oct. 22, 2026
U.S. Northern Command and multiple research organizations just wrapped up a joint, three-year experiment to test new radar technology that could enable the Northern Warning System to detect incoming threats at longer ranges across Alaska and northern Canada.

Pentagon, Lockheed Agree on 10-Year Framework for Buying F-35s

Oct. 22, 2026
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin on Oct. 22 announced a framework agreement to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the next 10 years. But the deal, touted by the Pentagon as “landmark” and a first of its kind, depends on Congress granting the military authority to enter into such a…

Michael Wynne, Fired as SECAF Alongside CSAF Moseley, Dead at 82 

Oct. 22, 2026
Michael Wynne, the 21st Secretary of the Air Force died Oct. 17. He was 82 years old. Wynne was Secretary from 2005 to 2008, a stretch of time when the U.S. military was struggling to quell insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Army was struggling to simultaneously man occupation…