PENSACOLA, Fla.—An airman who is presumed dead in a parachute training exercise off Florida’s Panhandle has been identified.
According to a military news release, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff, 29, was a special tactics combat controller with 24th Special Operations Wing, part of the Air Force Special Operations Command.
On Nov. 5 morning, Condiff fell into the Gulf of Mexico south of Hurlburt Field while performing a static-line jump from a C-130 aircraft. A military news release described what happened as an “unplanned parachute departure.”
Coast Guard air and boat crews spent over 130 hours on the scene and searched more than 4,909 square-nautical miles but were unable to locate him.
Condiff was a Dallas native who attended Utah Valley University and served a two-year mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Spokane, Washington.