---
title: "Air Force Major killed in non-combat incident in Kuwait"
description: "The Pentagon identified Air Force Major Stephen Khou as the airman killed in non-combat accident in Kuwait this week."
date: "2023-05-25"
modified: "2023-05-25"
authors:
  - name: "Matt White"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/matt-white/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-killed-accident-kuwait/"
categories:
  - "Air Force"
  - "Around the World"
  - "Middle East"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "death"
---

# Air Force Major killed in non-combat incident in Kuwait

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/25/KHOU-scaled.jpg>)
*An undated picture of Stephen Khou, posted to a site on which his academic papers are archived.*

An Air Force Major from Philadelphia was killed this week in a non-combat incident at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Pentagon officials said on Thursday that Major Stephen Khou, 36, died May 24. He was in Kuwait supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Khou was assigned to the 32nd Weapons Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, which specializes in and teaches cyber warfare.

Khou served as a Cyberspace Operations Expert in the Air Force, according to [an online academic biography](<https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37085835851>). The bio said Khou graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 2005, received a master's at UCLA in 2016 and had pursued a second master's with the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH.

Khou's death marks at least the fourth US military member killed in a non-combat event in Kuwait since 2020.

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[Senior Airman Jason Khai Phan](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/airman-killed-vehicle-accident-kuwait/>), a 26-year-old from Anaheim, California, was killed in September 2020 while on a routine vehicle patrol at Ali Al Salem Air Base.

In January 2021, [Staff Sgt. Anthony Bermudez from Dallas, Texas](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-kuwait-anthony-bermudez/>) was killed in a vehicle accident. That same month, [Staff Sgt. Timothy Manchester, 34, a Marine veteran](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/timothy-manchester-soldier-non-combat-kuwait/>) serving in the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard, died at Camp Arifjan in another vehicle accident.

---

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## Author
Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose*.* He writes on news, people and events that affect the lives of those in the Army, Air Force and Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He also helps direct and edit coverage across Task & Purpose’s newsroom. He has written widely on military aviation and mishaps, service members with unique stories, and special operations including [combat search and rescue](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-pararescue-astronauts-boat-nasa-ocean/>). Got a story to tell? You can reach Matt at [matthew.white@taskandpurpose.com](<mailto:matthew.white@taskandpurpose.com>)

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