Lt. Col. Seth “Jethro” Nehring was serving as the Operations Officer in the Joint Operations Center, meaning he was the liaison between the exercise director, Maj. Gen. Garrison and all flying operations
The 144th Fighter Wing (FW) has released the name and picture of the pilot involved in the crash of a Ukrainian Su-27UB that took place on Oct. 16, 2018.
“It’s with a heavy heart we share the news that we lost a member of our team yesterday,” says the unit on its Facebook Page. “Lt. Col. Seth “Jethro” Nehring, assigned to the 194th Fighter Squadron, was killed yesterday in a SU-27 plane crash in Ukraine. Jethro was deployed to Ukraine for the Clear Sky 2018 exercise.
“He was serving as the Operations Officer in the Joint Operations Center, meaning he was the liaison between the exercise director, Maj. Gen. Garrison and all flying operations. He was handpicked for this position due to his operational experience and long history with our unit.
Jethro has been a member of the 144th family for over 20 years. He began his career here as an enlisted crew chief before being selected for a pilot slot and flew the F-16 Viper for over 15 years and converted to the F-15 Eagle.
A loss of any kind is always difficult and our thoughts and prayers go out to Jethro’s family and friends.
God speed Jethro!”
As we have explained the Su-27UB crashed during exercise Clear Sky 2018, killing both the crew members on board.
The circumstances of the crash are under investigation.
As already reported, on Oct. 6, 2018, F-15C fighters from the California Air National Guard’s 144th FW landed for the first time ever today on Ukrainian soil.
The Eagles in fact have been deployed to Starokostiantyniv Air Base, Ukraine, to participate in exercise Clear Sky 2018 a joint and multinational exercise that will involve personnel from nine nations, including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Photo by U.S. Air National Guard
