Elmendorf 3rd Wing commander suicide

[414Flyer]

Hard to know what could cause some an accomplished person and career fighter pilot to take his own life. Looked like he was definitely rising fast through the ranks and destined to go a lot further.

Of course most important is his wife and family, and they will be most impacted. Reminds one a little of the sordid Boorda episode where Hackworth made accusations of Boorda that were found to be without merit, unfortunately too late. With Gen Tinsley, no evidence of any scandals or impropriety, or even allegations of

 

[pkober]

Source ?

 

[PreContact]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/07/airforce_elmendorf_death_072808w/

Thursday memorial for 1-star open to public

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 12:56:49 EDT

A memorial service has been scheduled for Thursday to honor Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley, the commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, who died Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The service, which is open to the public, will be held at 2 p.m. local time in Elmendorf’s Hangar 1, according to an Air Force announcement. All base gates will be open to the public from noon to 2:30 p.m. for those wishing to attend the memorial service.
Tinsley’s death is assumed to be a suicide, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf after Tinsley’s death, at a press conference Monday.
Tinsley, commander of the 3rd Wing, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half-hour.
“To the best information, it’s possible it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Walberg said.
Medical responders rushed to Tinsley’s home on base but were unsuccessful in trying to save him. Tinsley’s wife and college-age daughter were home at the time of the shooting.
Tinsley was named base commander in May 2007. He had served as an F-15 instructor pilot, F-15C test pilot, wing weapons officer, exchange officer and instructor with the Royal Australian Air Force.
His previous 22-month assignment was as executive officer to the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who resigned under pressure in June.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ousted both Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, holding them accountable for failing to fully correct an erosion of nuclear-related performance standards.
Walberg said Tinsley was not under investigation or undue stress.
“Gen. Tinsley was under no investigation,” he said. “As far as stress, sir, this job, by nature of being an Air Force officer in a nation at war, is stressful. Undue stress, no.”
Walberg lives across the street from the base commander’s home.
He and his wife went to bed at about 10 p.m. Sunday and the base command post called about 10 to 15 minutes later.
“The individual on the end of the line was fairly agitated and said there was a report of a gunshot at General Tinsley’s house and people are screaming.”
The colonel bolted out of the house with his wife behind him and met Col. Eli Powell, the 3rd Medical Group commander and an orthopedic surgeon, inside. Powell, who lives next door to Walberg, had also received a call. He started resuscitation efforts on Tinsley as family members watched.
Tinsley was declared dead at 10:30 p.m.
Representatives of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology will do a report and declare Tinsley’s cause of death and determine whether it was a suicide, Walberg said.
“We’re assuming it was, and I’m not prepared to make that statement,” he said. A report takes an average of 30 days to complete, he said.
Tinsley’s outstanding achievement was the care he showed for those under his command, Walberg said.
“Brig. Gen. Tom Tinsley’s best accomplishment in the 15 months or so that he’s been the commander is his absolute love, and I mean love with a capital L, for his airmen. His first thought in the morning, his last thought at night for his professional family was, ‘How can I better take care of these airmen who are being sent in harm’s way?’”
Walberg recalled his first contact with Tinsley 18 months ago. Over the phone, Tinsley introduced himself as “Pugs,” his fighter pilot call sign.
“I said, ‘Why is that important to me?’”
“He said, ‘Dude, we’re going to have a lot of fun together. I’m your boss.’”
The fighter pilot and the transport pilot traded good-natured barbs.
“And he was always right because he was a general and I was a colonel,” he said.
“In the 13 months that we’ve worked together, I think we did a lot of great things together and we had a lot of fun,” he said. “This is a real tragedy and I’ve lost a very, very good friend.”

The Associated Press and staff writer Erik Holmes contributed to this report.

 

[SIG600]

Sad story. Goes to show you can never really know what's going on in someone's life based on perception.

 

[Rally]

If you are going to kill yourself you don't shot yourself in the chest.....thats weird.

 

[satpak77]

If you are going to kill yourself you don't shot yourself in the chest.....thats weird.

unless you want an open casket funeral for the benefit of the family

 

[SIG600]

Real nice doosh bag. Real professional too.

 

[Rally]

Real nice doosh bag. Real professional too.

I feel bad that anyone would feel they would need to take their life as I'm sure we have all been in a muck at some point. I was merely pointing out that shooting yourself in the head is not a sure thing and in the chest is not a common way to kill yourself and is really not a sure thing, you are very likely to survive depending on the gun. The story says "appears to be self inflicted" How do we know what he killed himself is all I'm pointing out.

 

[Fox-Tree]

I feel bad that anyone would feel they would need to take their life as I'm sure we have all been in a muck at some point. I was merely pointing out that shooting yourself in the head is not a sure thing and in the chest is not a common way to kill yourself and is really not a sure thing, you are very likely to survive depending on the gun. The story says "appears to be self inflicted" How do we know what he killed himself is all I'm pointing out.

You're attributing logic and forethought to a person who more than likely was not approaching his circumstances with those capabilities intact.
Who knows what he was thinking.

 

[satpak77]

Real nice doosh bag. Real professional too.

If directed at me, my answer is based on legit studies done on suicides, based on male and female suicide data.

By no means is this a subject to joke about, and I did not intend to come across that way

 

[Rally]

Real nice doosh bag. Real professional too.

I think he's talking about the man that killed himself saying that it wasn't really professional and that he's a doosh bag?

I'm confused......who are you referring to?

 

[CatfishVT9]

If you are going to kill yourself you don't shot yourself in the chest.....thats weird.

Not so fast. Admiral Boorda, Chief of Naval Operations did the same thing.

Navy's top officer dies of gunshot,​

apparently self-inflicted​

Letter left behind offers clues​

May 16, 1996​

Web posted at: 10:10 p.m. EDT​

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The nation's top Navy officer, Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda, died Thursday from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after learning Newsweek magazine was raising questions about the legitimacy of some of his combat medals.​

CNN has learned from Pentagon sources that Boorda wrote two letters before he died, one to his family and one addressed to sailors.​

Sources said that in the typewritten note to the sailors, Boorda explained that he took his life because of the questions raised about his wearing of "V" for valor medals on his combat ribbon from Vietnam.​

Navy officials had not yet decided whether to release the letters.​

A U.S. Navy official who met with Boorda in the hours preceding his death said Boorda was "obviously concerned" about a scheduled meeting Thursday with two Newsweek reporters pursuing the story.​

The 57-year-old chief of naval operations was rushed to D.C. General Hospital after he was found outside his quarters at the Washington Navy Yard, the Navy said. An emergency room physician said Boorda arrived with a gunshot wound to the chest. Five minutes later, at 2:30 p.m. EDT, he was pronounced dead.​

According to Newsweek editor Maynard Parker, the news magazine was working on a story that called into question two medals Boorda received during the Vietnam war.​

According to Navy sources, the magazine claimed to have uncovered evidence that Boorda had for more than 20 years inappropriately displayed "V" for valor on the medals.​

According to a source who has seen Boorda's note to the sailors, Boorda wrote that he wore the Vs because he thought he rated them.​

Boorda told the sailors how much he thought of them, and said that some people will not think he did the right thing, the source said. He ended the letter with a reference to "critics in the media" who have been "hard on the Navy," saying "I have given you more to write about," the source said.​

The "V" for valor on such awards is reserved for acts "involving direct participation in combat operations," according to military code. The Navy released documents late Thursday which indicate that Boorda was not authorized to wear a combat "V" decoration.​

Rear Adm. Kendell Pease, who was with Boorda a little over an hour before the shooting, said that when he told Boorda, at about 12:30 p.m., what the subject of the interview was, the admiral abruptly announced he was going home for lunch instead of eating the meal that had been brought to his office.​

"Admiral Boorda was obviously concerned," said Pease, the Navy's top public affairs officer.​

He said that Boorda had asked him how they should handle the Newsweek questions, then without waiting for a reply had answered his own question: "We'll just tell him the truth."​

The Navy would not say if Boorda's wound was self-inflicted, and Navy Secretary John Dalton said Washington, D.C., police were investigating Boorda's death.​

Earlier, a Pentagon source told CNN that Boorda's death was "definitely a suicide."​

According to sources familiar with the investigation, a .38 caliber pistol was used in the shooting. The gun belonged to his son-in-law, sources said.​

President Clinton expressed his grief at Boorda's sudden and violent death. Opening a briefing to announce a new U.S. policy on land mines, the president asked for a moment of silence in honor of Boorda. He bowed his head, prayed silently, then whispered, "Amen."​

Earlier, during a discussion with business leaders, Clinton, who appointed Boorda to his position in 1994, was handed a note from an aide informing him of the shooting. After reading the note, the president's shoulders slumped and he grimaced. (800K QuickTime movie)​

He continued the discussion for 20 minutes, without mentioning Boorda. On returning to the White House, he headed for an Oval Office meeting with several somber aides.​

Dalton praised Boorda as "a sailor's sailor," and after a pause said, "He will be missed." (196K AIFF sound or 196K WAV sound)​

The Navy secretary said he met with Boorda on Wednesday and found him in "great spirits."​

Boorda, whose name was Jeremy, preferred to be called Mike.​

Born in South Bend, Indiana, Boorda was married to Bettie May Moran and had four children. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island in 1971 and postgraduate degrees from the Naval War College in 1971 and 1983.​

He was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy in 1962 and advanced through the ranks to admiral in 1984. A top NATO commander, Boorda was in charge of American naval forces in Europe and commander in chief of allied forces in southern Europe before being chosen for the Navy's top job.​