TheWisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing based in Madison, Wis., has identified the pilot who was found dead after his F-16 fighter jet crashed in the Upper Peninsula Tuesday night.
Officials on Friday identified him 37-year-old Captain Durwood “Hawk” Jones of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Capt. Jones joined the Air National Guard in 2011 and graduated from F-16 basic qualification training in 2015. He is a decorated combat veteran, deploying as a part of a United States Pacific Command Theater Support Package to Japan in 2015 and to Korea in 2017.
He deployed again in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel to Afghanistan in 2019.
Capt. Jones has been awarded two Air Medal’s with combat “C” devices, which are awarded to individuals who have been personally exposed to hostile action or under significant risk of hostile action.
His death was announced on Thursday after a large search and rescue operation in the Hiawatha National Forest in eastern Delta County. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the military. Jones was part of what was going to be a week of training missions over the Upper Peninsula.
(115th Fighter Wing photos)
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