Fallen Airman honored

  • Published
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) --  Servicemembers turned out in force to honor a fallen Airman from Dalzell, S.C., at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Nov. 18.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Bubacz, a 23-year-old Airman assigned to the 97th Communications Squadron at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., died Nov. 12 while deployed as part of a provincial reconstruction team in Nuristan, Afghanistan.

Thousands of Shaw AFB members -- Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, civilians and even a Sailor -- lined the streets in honor of Sergeant Bubacz and saluted the hearse bearing his flag-covered coffin as it moved from the flightline across base and out the main gate.

Sergeant Bubacz's funeral took place Nov. 19 in Sumter, S.C., followed by burial at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia, S.C.

The Airman served as a communications specialist on a PRT, and was in Afghanistan for one month of his 270-day deployment at the time of his death. While stationed at Altus, he was a 97th Communications Squadron help desk technician, a 97th Air Mobility Wing command section client support administrator and worked in the 97th CS official mail center.

Sergeant Bubacz enlisted in the Air Force Sept. 27, 2005, and attended Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB, Texas. He then transitioned to the 336th Training Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., for technical school as a communications specialist and moved to Altus AFB in February 2006.

He had earned Community College of the Air Force degrees in both biology and information management, as well as an associate's degree in biology from Western Oklahoma State College. He also earned the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.