Andrew Cully,Andrew Kraus Obituary, Death; – On early Monday, the Army identified the special operations soldiers who lost their lives last week in an MH-60M helicopter crash near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, confirmed that all crew members were part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). The crew members include:
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Cully, 35, from Sparta, Missouri; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Kraus, 39, from Sanibel, Florida; Sgt. Donavon Scott, 25, from Tacoma, Washington; and Sgt. Jadalyn Good, 23, from Mount Vernon, Washington. “It is with profound sorrow that we acknowledge the loss of four brave Night Stalkers from the 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), who tragically perished on September 17 during a training mission,” stated Col. Stephen Smith, the commander. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
A team of accident investigators from the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, has been sent to look into the incident. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), known as “the Night Stalkers,” is trained to deploy Navy SEALs, Delta Force, U.S. Army Rangers, and other specialized units into combat, frequently behind enemy lines.
The unit’s headquarters and two battalions are based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with an additional battalion located at Lewis-McChord and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. The crash took place on September 17 at around 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, just as twilight was concluding over the Capitol National Forest, west of Olympia, the state capital.
The crash site is situated near Summit Lake, approximately 35 miles west of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Military and civilian emergency responders transitioned on Friday from a search-and-rescue operation to a recovery mission after the Army confirmed that all four crew members were presumed dead. The crash also sparked a small wildfire covering about 1 acre, as reported by Washington.
Cully, 35, was commissioned in May 2013 as a U.S. Army aviation officer from Missouri State University as a second lieutenant. He completed Flight School at Ft. Rucker. After his initial service as a commissioned officer, he was reappointed as an aviation warrant officer and served as a UH-60M Black Hawk pilot. In 2022, he completed the UH-60M Instructor Pilot Course at Fort Rucker.
He has two operational deployments to the EUCOM theater in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve and Operation Swift Response. In 2024, after being selected to serve in the 160th SOAR, he was assigned to C Company at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Wash. While assigned to C Company, he supported multiple training missions and deployed to the INDOPACOM theater.
His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Basic Army Aviator Badge, Parachutist Badge and Air Assault Badge.
Kraus, 39, served in the U. S. Marine Corps as a CH-46 Chinook maintainer from July 2008 until 2013. In 2017, he joined the U.S. Army and attended Warrant Officer Candidate School and flight school at Ft. Rucker, Ala. He then served as an aeromedical evacuation pilot in command in Germany, performing medical evacuation missions. In 2023, after being selected to serve in the 160th SOAR, he was assigned to C Company, where he supported multiple CONUS training missions and deployed in support of contingency response operations.
He is a 2025 graduate of the Aviation Maintenance Test Pilot Course at Ft. Rucker, Ala. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal second award, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Navy Unity Commendation, and Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation and Basic Aviation Badge.
