Mark A Forester
Rank: SRA
Entered Into Eternal Rest
2010-09-29
Senior Airman Mark Forester, 29, of Tuscaloosa, AL., died Sept. 29 in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations in the area. He was assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Air Force Base, N.C.
Mark Forester was born on May 15, 1981, in Haleyville, Alabama. He served as a Missionary from 2000 to 2002 and then attended the University of Alabama where he received his Bachelor's degree in Finance in 2006.
Mark then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on June 26, 2007, and completed basic training as an Honor Graduate at Lackland AFB, Texas, in August 2007. A1C Forester next attended Combat Control Team training at Lackland AFB (Combat Control Orientation Course); Keesler AFB, Mississippi (Combat Control Operator Course); Fort Benning, Georgia (U.S. Army Airborne School); Fairchild AFB, Washington (U.S. Air Force Basic Survival School); Pope AFB, North Carolina (Combat Control School); Hurlburt Field, Florida (Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training); Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona (U.S. Army Military Freefall Parachutist School); and Panama City, Florida (U.S. Air Force Combat Divers School) between August 2007 and September 2009. SrA Forester served as a Combat Controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron of the 720th Special Tactics Group at Pope AFB from September 2009 until he was killed in action while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, on September 29, 2010. He was buried at the Winston Memorial Cemetery in Haleyville, Alabama.
According to the Air Force Special Operations Command website, "Mark believed with all his heart in serving his God, his country and his family," said Maj. Edmund Loughran, 21 STS acting commander. "The unit mourns his loss, but we could not be more proud of his devotion to defending what he believed in most."
The Air Force Times says Forester was a devout Mormon with a close-knit family according to his friend Michael Andrew.
Senior Airman Mark A. Forester was born on May 15, 1981. He served in the Air Force. In 3 years of service, he attained the rank of SRA/E4. On September 29, 2010, at the age of 28, MARK A. FORESTER perished in the service of our country in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
- SRA – E4 – Air Force – Regular
- 28 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
- Born on May 15, 1981
- From Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Length of service 3 years.
- His tour of duty began in 2007
- Casualty was on September 29, 2010 in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan
- Hostile, KILLED IN ACTION
- Body was recovered
