An airman with the 8th Maintenance Group died this week on base at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.
On Friday, the Air Force’s 8th Fighter Wing, based out of Kunsan, announced that Tech. Sgt. Jacob Venegas was found dead inside a dormitory on Wed., Aug. 28. The Air Force did not share any additional details around Venegas’ death, but did say it is under investigation.
“We are devastated by the loss of Tech. Sgt. Venegas, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew him as they navigate this difficult time,” Col. Peter Kasarskis, the commander of 8th Fighter Wing, said in an Air Force statement on Venegas’ death.
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Venegas is the third airman to die at Kunsan during this “difficult summer,” as Kasarskis called it. Three airmen, Venegas included, have died on the base in the last five weeks. Senior Airman Saniyya Jones Smalls, 25, was found dead on the base on Aug. 5. Nearly two weeks early Airman Basic Kye Vang, 23, died on July 26. Both Smalls and Vang were part of the 8th Security Forces Squadron. The 8th Fighter Wing said that foul play is not suspected in either death.
The 8th Fighter Wing comprises approximately 2,800 Air Force personnel and operates more than three dozen F-16 Fighting Falcons. The 8th Maintenance Group includes nearly half of the wing’s personnel, with 1,100 airmen. Kasarskis said that the wing is “reinforcing existing support entities to care for our airmen” in light of the three deaths, but did not elaborate on what the entails.
Another airman, Staff Sgt. Jacob Kruse, 23, with the 35th Fighter Generation Squadron, was found dead in March after only five months on base. Foul play was also not suspected in that death either.