An Air Force staff sergeant was killed and five other airmen were injured in a Humvee wreck June 29, 2024, on Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, service officials said. (U.S. Air Force)
An Air Force staff sergeant was killed, and five other airmen were injured in a Humvee wreck on Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, service officials said Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. Jorge Delgado, 37, died Saturday in the single-vehicle wreck of the armored Humvee in which he was traveling with three other airmen to their duty location on the post, Malmstrom officials said. The three other airmen inside the Humvee were injured, and two other airmen were also injured while responding to the crash, base officials said.
Delgado enlisted in the Air Force in 2014, according to the service. He was assigned to Malmstrom’s 341st Security Forces Squadron, which is charged with securing the base’s 13,800-square-foot intercontinental ballistic missile complex, the largest IBCM complex in the world, according to the service.
“Team Malmstrom and our surrounding community grieve not only the loss of an outstanding airman, but a family member and a friend,” said Col. Dan Voorhies, the commander of the 341st Missile Wing, which oversees Delgado’s squadron.
Air Force officials said three of the airmen injured in the wreck had been released from a local hospital and two remained hospitalized in stable condition as of Tuesday. A spokesman for the base said Wednesday that he had no update on the incident or conditions of those involved in it.
An investigation into the crash was ongoing, he said.
The wreck marked the second fatal Humvee crash at Malmstrom in less than one year. Airman Alton John died Oct. 28 after a Humvee crash on the base on Oct. 21. He was also a member of the 341st Missile Security Forces Squadron, according to the Air Force.
The Air Force is in the process of replacing at least some of its nearly 40-year-old Humvee fleet with newer vehicles known as Joint Light Tactical Vehicles that have been partially adopted by the Army and Marine Corps. The vehicles, built by Oshkosh Defense, have been billed as safer with better armor and more comfortable than the aging Humvee fleet for U.S. ground forces. The Air Force intends to buy some 2,100 JLTVs in the coming years, according to recent budget documents.
