GADSEN, AL, US
U. S. Air Force
MAJ, 99TH FLYING TRAINING SQD, RANDOLPH AFB, TX
04/27/2011, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
A 41-year-old Gadsden native training pilots in Afghanistan was among nine people who died after an Afghan military pilot opened fire during a meeting at the Kabul airport.
In 2008, Major Ausborn was profiled in “Airman” magazine while serving in Africa with the 43rd Airlift Wing out of Pope Air Force Base, N.C. After handing out food and water to locals, he was so stuck by the poverty they lived in that he called his family to tell his children just how well they lived.
“Knowing that we’re helping in Kenya and Comoros is very rewarding – and that I’m one of the guys putting all that airlift together,” he told the magazine.
His wife, Suzanna, said he volunteered to go to Afghanistan last year to teach new Afghan pilots how to fly the C-27 aircraft. He was a 19-year veteran of the Air Force.
“He was the most compassionate, kind, patient and understanding husband, father, pilot and supervisor,” she told The Gadsden Times.
She said the two talked nearly every day. “That’s how I knew something was wrong. I didn’t hear from him. I miss him so much,” she said.
In addition to his wife, survivors include five children.