Roll of Honor
Nathan Cole Sartain
Incident
Senior Airman Nathan Sartain and Senior Airman Kcey Ruiz were killed in a plane crash while providing mobile security for a flight of U.S. Air Force personnel and military contractors at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan.
The C-130 transport plane crashed 28 seconds after takeoff, killing all 11 people on board and three people on the ground.
Airman Sartain had served in the United States Air Forces Security Forces for two years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and one child.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-797A620B- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Senior Airman Sartain gave the United States Air Force Security Forces 2 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Nathan Cole Sartain served in the Air Force (2013â2015) before joining law enforcement.
Senior Airman Nathan Cole Sartain is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At United States Air Force Security Forces, 28 of 41 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 68.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Nathan Cole Sartain's cause is highlighted.
How Nathan Cole Sartain Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Nathan Cole Sartain is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from United States Air Force Security Forces are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
