European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tars and s trip e s of Iraq crash caused by failed pages gation Uil Success stars and stripes Arlington a maj Troy Trojan Gilbert was Riding the razors Edge on nov 27 when he flew his f16 fighting Falcon into Battle to help us ground forces that were pinned Down by insurgents a highly skilled Pilot he pulled off an amazing strafing run against fleeing ban dits on a Highway but when the 34yearold Gilbert tried the same Man Euver a second time he was so intent on his target he lost track of How close he was to the ground according air Force Brig Gen David l Goldfein Gilberts focus and intensity on the enemy Cost him Bis life according to Gold fein the head of the Accident investigation Board into the crash and commander of the 49th fighter Wing Goldfein briefed reporters monday on the official results of the air Force investigation into the crash Gilbert had been deployed to Iraq from Luke air Force base Ariz where he was As the 332nd expeditionary operations group chief of standardization and evaluation on that Day Gilberts 10th Mission since coming to Iraq he was one of two f16s tasked to provide surveillance and recon Naissance in support of ground forces a relatively routine flight for air Force jets in Iraq according to air Force officials very often in Iraq a Mission will turn from very benign to very intense in a mat Ter of moments Goldfein said about three hours in one of the coalition helicopters mat Gilbert was supporting was forced Down 20 Miles North of Baghdad then ground forces securing the helicopter came under attack Gilbert was told to destroy enemy vehicles fleeing up a High Way while his Wingman returned to a Tanker aircraft to refuel Gilbert made several runs to positively identify the vehicle then ducking Down to the deck flying less than 200 feet from the rolled in on a classic Straf ing run his attack destroyed the Lead vehicle Goldfein said Gilbert then yanked his Joystick Back experiencing six is of gravitational pull As the f16 screamed Back into the sky after he recovered from his first pass he decided to make a second using exactly the same approach Goldfein said the Only difference be tween the first and second attempts was that on the second try Gilbert was so focused on his target he forgot about the ground entirely according to data recovered from the jf16s electronic Black Box Gilbert had less than one second Between the time he pulled Back on the stick and the time his Iet hit the ground in my opinion he never knew what happened Goldfein said two f16s were sent to keep an Eye on the crash site along with a predator unmanned Aerial vehicle Goldfein said but because Gilbert was clearly dead and coalition troops were still under attack All Avail Able combat assets were sent into the fight rather than the recovery site it want until 7 pm that evening that a Marine Force got to the downed Jet an army unit quickly followed but by the time the troops got to the site it was too late there was no Trace of Gil Bert ifs Likely the insurgents removed the body Goldfein said and to this Day we do not know what happened to his re Mains the air Force continues to search for Gil Bert in Iraq with Progress on his Case briefed to commanders daily Goldfein said Gilbert was posthumously awarded the distinguished flying Cross with valor email Lisa Burgess at on nov 27 Lead to pilots death r Uruci la Courtesy of the us air maj Troy l Gilbert was supporting us combat troops when his f16 crashed in Iraq in november his body was missing when troops arrived at the crash site and it has yet to be recovered Send a Glitz Footma Bunny Mil hers Day bears a to 8feefvtaini ceremonial sendoff fast worldwide shipping i love you in a big Way big Luscom styles of giant stuffed animals gourmet italia the Pursuit of excellence in your commissaries i never forget a face but in your Case ill be glad to make an exception Groucho Marx cooking courses on the Mediterranean diet info Mytrier Stevia m Watson women supervisor German jurisdiction convention president 25th annual women convention Church of god in Christ april 572007 women oko Mirage moving of Venyan with prayer Faith my Wisdom location hour of prayer logic hohsnzabtsd92249yitseck Michael and stripes battalion 94th Reid Arti fiery regiment presents a ceremonial artillery round to maj Gen Daniel Hahn at a Farewell ceremony for the general tuesday at Victory corps Park on Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg Germany the outgoing v corps Deputy commanding Genera is headed for a nato position in Brun sum Netherlands at Center is v corps commander it Gen James Thurman who called Hahn a True Patriot and thanked him and his wife Carol for their duty with the corps Bishop Carlis l Moody St prelate Germany jurisdiction highlights thursday april 5th 7am prayer breakfast Craft auction 10am morning education classes pm youth program 8 pm evening service Bishops night Friday april 6th 9am prayer morning worship 3pm presidents banquet 8 pm evening service supervisors night saturday april 7th 9am prayer Christian education classes 1 pm gospel explosion musical concert guest speakers exporter Sheronda Lassiter Florida and evangelist Robinson Georgia special musical guests Mannheim Joyful voices men of Standard Fot More information Contact Marcella Bristow co convention coordinator 01733429143 exl Dol finalist coming for four of Safe bases us air forces in Europe Community members will get a taste of americana pop music later this month when american idol finalist Anthony Fedorov Tours Safe bases to promote the Start of the annual Safe services extreme summer program the finalist from the fourth sea son of the popular Sta making to series also will judge and per form april 13 at the Safe youth and teen Talent contest and at the Safe idol Competition on april 14 according to a re lease from Safe services both events will be held at Ramstein air base Germany in addition to those events Fedorov who was one of the top four american idol contestants a few years ago alongside such luminaries As to Bice and Carrie Underwood also will perform april 12 in the Kaiserslautern area and april 15 at Span Dahl pm air base Germany Fedorov will then travel to England visiting Raf Lakenheath on april 16 and Raf Fairford on april 17 hell round out the tour at Lajes Field azores on april 19 and Moron air base in Spain on april 21 for More information log on to  from staff reports