{"id":38649,"date":"2022-02-22T19:36:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T19:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/22\/defense-department-identifies-airman-who-died-while-deployed-to-niger\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:15:20","slug":"defense-department-identifies-airman-who-died-while-deployed-to-niger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/02\/22\/defense-department-identifies-airman-who-died-while-deployed-to-niger\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Department identifies airman who died while deployed to Niger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated with a statement from Shaw Air Force Base and additional information about Staff Sgt. Melton\u2019s service.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Department officials have released the name of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/2941482\/dod-identifies-air-force-casualty\/\" target=\"_blank\">airman who died in a non-combat related<\/a> incident in Niger on Feb. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Staff Sgt. Dennis F. Melton, 27, of Waverly, Tenn., was deployed with the 768th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron at Air Base 101 in Niamey at the time of his death. Melton had been on active duty since December 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incident is still under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Melton was assigned to the 20th Security Forces Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and arrived there Sept. 1, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe passing of Staff Sergeant Dennis Melton is felt throughout the entire Defender family,\u201d said Maj. Kevin Collett, 20th Security Forces Squadron commander. \u201cOur hearts are heavy as we grieve with Dennis\u2019 friends and family; we send our deepest condolences for their irreplaceable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During Staff Sgt. Melton\u2019s time in the Air Force, he received an Achievement Medal, 3 Meritorious Unit Awards, a Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship ribbon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staff Sgt. Dennis F. Melton, 27, of Waverly, Tenn., died in a non-combat related incident in Niamey, Niger, Feb. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","disaster"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,23,24,88,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3349],"class_list":["post-38649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-disaster","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JJPLP2JBONB4VFAK6DAVCHSQDQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/02\/22\/defense-department-identifies-airman-who-died-while-deployed-to-niger\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Defense Department identifies airman who died while deployed to Niger - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Staff Sgt. 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