--- title: "Special tactics airman dies during training swim in Florida" description: "An Air Force Special Tactics combat controller was found dead Thursday afternoon after he went missing during a surface training swim at a Florida naval base." date: "2020-03-20" modified: "2020-03-20" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/airman-dies-training-swim-florida-special-tactics/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Tactics" - "Tech & Tactics" - "Training" tags: - "Northern Command" - "special operations command" --- # Special tactics airman dies during training swim in Florida ![]() An Air Force Special Tactics combat controller was found dead Thursday afternoon after he went missing during a surface training swim at a Florida naval base, the Air Force said in a Friday press release. The airman, who was assigned to 24th Special Operations Wing, was participating in the Air Force Combat Dive Course at the time, the Air Force said. The combat controller went missing at approximately 11:05 a.m. on Thursday at Naval Support Activity Panama City, prompting a response from various search and rescue agencies such as the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, U.S. Coast Guard Station Panama City and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Air Force said. The Air Force will not release the name of the airman until 24 hours after notifying the airman’s next of kin. The branch said it is investigating the incident, so it cannot release any additional details at the moment. The announcement comes four months after another 24th SOW airman, Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff, went missing in the Gulf of Mexico after falling out of a C-130 transport aircraft about two miles south of Hurlburt Field, Florida, where the unit is based. The Air Force [called off the search]() after 20 days. In October, 24th SOW pararescueman Tech Sgt. Peter Kraines [died from injuries]() sustained while performing mountain rescue techniques in Boise, Idaho. ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()