Airman Who Died on Guam ID'd as F-22 Pilot

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F-22 Raptor

The Air Force identified an airman found unresponsive Sept. 23 at San Luis Beach, Guam, and later pronounced dead at Naval Hospital Guam as Capt. Jeffrey "Bull" Braden, said 1st Lt. Kaitlin Daddona, a spokeswoman for 15th Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

Braden was an F-22 Raptor pilot assigned to the 19th Fighter Squadron of the 15th Wing and had been temporarily assigned to Andersen Air Force Base, an Air Force release said. San Luis Beach is located on the U.S. naval station on Guam.

The service said the airman's death is under investigation.

"It is the worst kind of tragedy when we lose a member of our Air Force family," said Brig. Gen. Douglas Cox, 36th Wing commander, in a statement Sept. 23. "Our condolences are with the immediate family and everyone affected by this loss."

Exercise Valiant Shield 16, a large-scale war game in the Pacific, was ongoing all that week throughout Guam and off its coast. The exercise, which included 18,000 personnel and more than 180 aircraft from the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, concluded Sept. 23.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@Oriana0214.

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