TSgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee, 32, of Citrus Heights, Calif., and SSgt. Joseph J. Hamski, 28, of Ottumwa, Iowa, died in operations in Afghanistan, announced Defense Department officials. The two airmen were killed on May 26 in the Shorabak district of Kandahar province of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. Both airmen were EOD technicians. Solesbee was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah. Hamski was a member of the 52nd CES at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. (See also KTXL report from Sacramento, Calif., and WHO report from Des Moines, Iowa.)
The Air Force wants more companies able to produce its new, multi-use, anti-radar missile that one expert says will prove vital in any future peer conflict and would be in high demand for the war in Iran if stocks were available now.