The crew members who died in the crash of a refueling tanker in Iraq had been part of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, bringing the death toll of American service members in the conflict to at least 13.

 

The Pentagon has identified the six United States service members who died last week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. With their deaths, the total number of service members killed in the war with Iran has risen to at least 13.

Many of the six United States service members who died last week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq had dreamed of being in the Air Force from a young age, and they died doing what they loved — flying and serving their country, their families said in interviews and statements.

The service members, identified by the Pentagon on Saturday, were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

U.S. Central Command had stated that the aircraft crashed after an incident involving another plane, which landed safely. Further details were not provided. The crash, which happened Thursday in western Iraq, was not a result of hostile or friendly fire, the Central Command said.

The plane that went down was a KC-135, which is used by the Air Force to refuel a wide range of aircraft while in flight. A U.S. official previously said that the other plane involved was also a KC-135.

Major Klinner, Captain Savino and Sergeant Pruitt were members of the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, based at the Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Ala., which functions administratively under the Sixth Air Refueling Wing at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.

Major Klinner was a husband and father to 7 month-old-twins, a boy and a girl, and a 2-year-old son, according to Mr. Klinner’s brother-in-law, James Harrill. Mr. Harrill said Mr. Klinner had been deployed to the Middle East for less than a week before his death and was nearing the end of his military career. He had entered the Air Force in 2017 after participating in the R.O.T.C. at Auburn University.

“You could just hear the excitement in his voice about the possibilities of what was next,” Mr. Harrill said on Saturday night.

Sergeant Pruitt is survived by her husband, Greg, their 3-year-old daughter and her stepson, said her father, Patrick Young. She had known she wanted to join the Air Force from a young age, Mr. Young said, and had participated in the Air Force R.O.T.C. program in high school. She joined the Air Force in 2017.

“She knew that this would be her path,” Mr. Young said on Sunday morning. “She passed doing what she loved — that’s fighting for this country.”

Captain Savino participated in the Air Force R.O.T.C. while enrolled at Central Washington University, where she graduated in 2017 with degrees in business administration and aviation management, according to her Air Force biography. She served at the Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and attended undergraduate pilot training at the Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi before becoming a KC-135 pilot.

In a statement, Col. Ed Szczepanik, the Sixth Air Refueling Wing Commander, mourned the loss of the squadron’s members.

“To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad,” the colonel said. “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.”

“They were not only outstanding Airmen. They were our neighbors — our fellow Alabamians,” Kay Ivey, the governor of Alabama, said in a statement. “May their service and that of their families never be forgotten.”


From left, Maj. John A. Klinner, Capt. Ariana G. Savino and Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt were among those killed in the crash.

Captain Koval, Captain Angst and Sergeant Simmons were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio, the Pentagon said. The Ohio National Guard released a statement on Saturday with information about each service member.Sergeant Simmons, a boom operator in charge of refueling aircrafts, entered the Air Force in 2017 and lived in Columbus. His father, Charles Simmons, said the first time his son flew a plane was in the ninth grade, when a deacon at his church, who was a Tuskegee Airman, took him for a ride.

“From that moment on, it was clear the sky was where he belonged,” Mr. Simmons said. Sergeant Simmons, an only child with an “infectious” smile, wanted to become a civilian pilot after he retired from the military, and had been looking forward to being promoted to a Master Sergeant and becoming an instructor for other boom operators.

He had been deployed to the Middle East for a different mission, Mr. Simmons said, and had volunteered to be on the KC-135 plane that crashed. “He didn’t have to be on that flight, that’s just the kind of person he was,” he said.

Captain Koval was an aircraft commander who trained pilots and first enlisted in the Air Force in 2006, as a machinist with the Indiana National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing. He received a bachelor’s degree in aviation operations from Purdue University in 2011, and transferred to the Ohio Air National Guard in 2017. He lived in Stoutsville, Ohio.

Heather Koval, Captain Koval’s wife, said in a Facebook post that he was “the most amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend, and Airman,” who grew up dreaming about becoming a pilot.

“He loved what he did, and he was proud to put his uniform on and serve others,” she said.

Captain Angst graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and first enlisted in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015. He lived in Columbus.

Captain Angst’s wife, Mary Angst, said in a statement that their family was still in shock about losing him.

“We are beyond grateful for the outpouring of love and support surrounding us during this unimaginable time,” she said. “Curtis was incredibly proud to serve our country, and we are committed to honoring his life and legacy.”

Each of the three men had deployed overseas multiple times during the tenure of their service.

In a video posted online by the Ohio National Guard, Maj. Gen. David B. Johnson, Ohio assistant adjutant general for Air, said they served with “dedication, professionalism and pride.”

“We lost three exceptional airmen in a tragic KC-135 crash in Iraq, and our hearts are extremely heavy,” he said, holding back tears. “Their loss is deeply felt.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine offered his condolences on Saturday and had earlier ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in their honor.

The six deaths brought the total number of American service members killed in the war with Iran to at least 13 as it stretched into its third week.