Searchers recovered the body of Capt. Lucas Gruenther, an F-16 pilot from Aviano AB, Italy, in the Adriatic Sea on Thursday, announced the Gruenther family in a statement posted at the base’s website. Gruenther, chief of flight safety for Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing, went missing on Monday after contact was lost with his F-16 over the water during a nighttime training mission. “We will never fully recover from our loss, but take heart in the knowledge that during his all-too-short time in this world, he made a significant difference in the lives of all whom he met,” reads the family’s statement.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.