TRAINING: Pandemic's impact of training reduction led to death in Kuwait says Inquiry

An investigation into a death during a training exercise in Kuwait has seen blame point at changes in training because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Time Aerospace thumbnail

The global pandemic has wreaked havoc on military training over the last year, the investigation said.

The US airman was killed in a vehicle rollover T military airbase in Kuwait in September after the Air Force lifted an in-person tactical vehicle course requirement for deploying Security Forces personnel, an investigation into his death found.

Senior Airman Jason Khai Phan, died after being ejected from an all-terrain vehicle while on a routine perimeter sweep of Ali Al Salem Air Base the Air Force ground investigation board report found this month.

The US Air Force operates alongside the Kuwaiti air force from the base, roughly 20 miles from the Iraqi border. Ali Al Salem functions as the primary airlift hub and "gateway for delivering combat power to joint and coalition forces," according to the service.

Questions are now being asked by lawmakers in the US from both parties. John Garamendi, a California democrat and chairman of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee, said: "I am very concerned about the pandemic's effect on military training. There may very well be some very serious problems that might manifest in a terrible accident."

The US Air Force operates alongside the Kuwaiti air force from the base, roughly 20 miles from the Iraqi border. Ali Al Salem functions as the primary airlift hub and "gateway for delivering combat power to joint and coalition forces (Image Military Wiki)