Five of the Army's most elite aviators and crew from the 160th SOAR perished in a helicopter training accident near Cyprus last November. The incident happened while the MH-60 was conducting a training re-fueling operation where it experienced an in-flight emergency.
While the tragedy was especially difficult for all families, one of the soldiers lost hit especially close to home for the Enterprise community. Chief warrant officer Stephen R. Dwyer, a 2004 graduate of Enterprise High School, died in the accident.
Last week, in a Senate Armed Service Committee meeting, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) pressed U.S. Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, to receive a report on exactly what happened during that flight and how those soldiers were lost.
The 160th SOAR are the Army's most elite aviators, crew chiefs, and flight support soldiers. From handling missions that took down Osama bin Laden to other high-profile and high-risk missions, the 160th are always on call to transport special operators to and from their missions safely and efficiently. They are also regarded as some of the best aviators in the U.S. military.
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