Tower dedication honors two Airmen killed in combat

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrea Knudson
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
FORT POLK, La. (AFPN) --  It was predicted there would not be a dry eye in the house. As the guests gathered to honor two fallen heroes, that prediction came true.

Family members and tactical air control party Airmen honored fellow tactical controllers Staff Sgt. Jacob Frazier and Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano during a dedication ceremony for a new range control tower here Nov. 30.

The Airmen died serving in Afghanistan fighting in the war on terrorism. They were the first tactical control Airmen killed in combat since the inception of the career field during the Korean War.

“It is a history of honor, of tradition and selfless bravery that we honor today in these two men,” said Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Ihde, commander of the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, who approved the tower’s designation as the “Losano-Frazier Tower.” “Let us never forget this group of men, who as young Airmen have tremendous responsibility and influence on our future as a country in the performance of their duties.”

Among the hundreds of thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines fighting the war on terrorism, tactical controllers are a group of sometimes “silent and forgotten warriors” who live each day as both Airmen and Soldiers, General Ihde said.

“[They] are living a life of extreme responsibility, only wanting to serve their country in the best way they can,” the general said. “These men serve side-by-side with the Soldier, wet-soaked in mud, powdered with dust and dirt, inhaling the smell of diesel fuel and gunpowder.

“Please accept the dedication of this tower as a humble but heartfelt token, as a demonstration of our great respect and honor of this ultimate sacrifice by Staff Sergeant Jacob Frazier and Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano to their country,” General Ihde said. “They will not be forgotten.”

After a moment of silence, the estimated 100 guests listened to the Air Force song and then watched officials uncover the sign to officially dedicate the tower.

The tower is located above the woods and swamps of Louisiana at the Joint Readiness Training Center, home to Detachment 1, 548th Combat Training Squadron. The detachment’s mission is critical to fighting the war on terrorism and its Airmen are directly responsible for the new tower and the dedication, officials said.

The range has a joint mission; the focus is to train troops before they go to war, said Lt. Col. Gary Ducote, the detachment’s commander. It is the primary facility to train all tactical controllers before they deploy.

“The (tactical controllers) command and control aircraft and train with pilots and live ordnance,” he said. “They use the tower to control aircraft in our training area.”

The detachment had been working from a World War II-era bunker for decades. It was an old, beat-up wooden shack, the colonel said. After the war on terrorism started, they were authorized to build a new tower.

When the idea was conceived to build the tower, the initial concept was to do something for the tactical controller community, said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Eberlan, the detachment’s superintendent.

“We were tracking events that were happening, doing background work on people in the career field who were making an impact,” he said. “Then we came across these two Airmen who were killed in Afghanistan and thought this was a proper way to honor them, their sacrifices and the enlisted career field.

“Their death is a testament that we’re there. The Air Force is there,” Sergeant Eberlan said. “We’re boots on the ground. It’s not just the flightline, not just the people associated with the aircraft. Other Airmen are out in front where the bullets are flying. They’re (in Iraq) clearing buildings, down in the streets in Baghdad, Fallujah; embedded and putting their lives on the line like our Army counterparts.”

Sergeant Frazier was assigned to the 169th Air Support Operations Squadron of the Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria, and served as the tactical controller for a 12-person special forces team calling in air strikes on enemy locations. He deployed to Afghanistan in January 2003 and was part of a unit searching for suspected al-Qaida members. While returning from a mission March 29, 2003, his convoy was ambushed, and Sergeant Frazier and another person were killed.

Airman Losano was in the 14th ASOS from Fort Bragg, N.C., and deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne in March 2003. As a special operator, his job was to parachute behind enemy lines and call in air strikes. Airman Losano’s unit was ambushed April 25, 2003. He was one of two servicemembers mortally wounded in the attack. Before Airman Losano took his last breath, he called in the air strike that saved the rest of his company.

“I had a chance to spend time with both families,” said 2nd Lt. Phillip Hardin, a weather officer who worked on the dedication. “It brings what we do up close and personal, puts a face with a name. After meeting them, I wish I could have done more. No matter how nice the ceremony was, it will never be enough to pay honest tribute to the ultimate sacrifice these to heroes paid.”