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Elmendorf wing CO dies of gunshot wound
Posted : Monday Jul 28, 2008 22:19:00 EDT
A memorial service has been scheduled for Thursday to honor Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley, the commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, who died Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The service, which is open to the public, will be held at 2 p.m. local time in Elmendorf’s Hangar 1, according to an Air Force announcement. All base gates will be open to the public from noon to 2:30 p.m. for those wishing to attend the memorial service.
Tinsley’s death is assumed to be a suicide, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf after Tinsley’s death, at a press conference Monday.
Tinsley, commander of the 3rd Wing, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half-hour.
“To the best information, it’s possible it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Walberg said.
Medical responders rushed to Tinsley’s home on base but were unsuccessful in trying to save him. Tinsley’s wife and college-age daughter were home at the time of the shooting.
Tinsley was named base commander in May 2007. He had served as an F-15 instructor pilot, F-15C test pilot, wing weapons officer, exchange officer and instructor with the Royal Australian Air Force.
His previous 22-month assignment was as executive officer to the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who resigned under pressure in June.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ousted both Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, holding them accountable for failing to fully correct an erosion of nuclear-related performance standards.
Walberg said Tinsley was not under investigation or undue stress.
“Gen. Tinsley was under no investigation,” he said. “As far as stress, sir, this job, by nature of being an Air Force officer in a nation at war, is stressful. Undue stress, no.”
Walberg lives across the street from the base commander’s home.
He and his wife went to bed at about 10 p.m. Sunday and the base command post called about 10 to 15 minutes later.
“The individual on the end of the line was fairly agitated and said there was a report of a gunshot at General Tinsley’s house and people are screaming.”
The colonel bolted out of the house with his wife behind him and met Col. Eli Powell, the 3rd Medical Group commander and an orthopedic surgeon, inside. Powell, who lives next door to Walberg, had also received a call. He started resuscitation efforts on Tinsley as family members watched.
Tinsley was declared dead at 10:30 p.m.
Representatives of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology will do a report and declare Tinsley’s cause of death and determine whether it was a suicide, Walberg said.
“We’re assuming it was, and I’m not prepared to make that statement,” he said. A report takes an average of 30 days to complete, he said.
Tinsley’s outstanding achievement was the care he showed for those under his command, Walberg said.
“Brig. Gen. Tom Tinsley’s best accomplishment in the 15 months or so that he’s been the commander is his absolute love, and I mean love with a capital L, for his airmen. His first thought in the morning, his last thought at night for his professional family was, ‘How can I better take care of these airmen who are being sent in harm’s way?’”
Walberg recalled his first contact with Tinsley 18 months ago. Over the phone, Tinsley introduced himself as “Pugs,” his fighter pilot call sign.
“I said, ‘Why is that important to me?’”
“He said, ‘Dude, we’re going to have a lot of fun together. I’m your boss.’”
The fighter pilot and the transport pilot traded good-natured barbs.
“And he was always right because he was a general and I was a colonel,” he said.
“In the 13 months that we’ve worked together, I think we did a lot of great things together and we had a lot of fun,” he said. “This is a real tragedy and I’ve lost a very, very good friend.”
The Associated Press and staff writer Erik Holmes contributed to this report.
29839 Sta Margarita Pkwy, 
Videography by Barbara Rosenfeld 
January 11th, 2011 @ 6:33 am
Sure seems like they’re slipping; suicides have a tendency to shoot themselves in the head, NOT the chest..
January 12th, 2011 @ 9:31 am
Hey, E.D….you’re right! This john that tries to intimidate others is an escapee from the “funny-farm!”
[Do you know why he’s here? Cause he’s NOT all there!!!] He’s always making snide remarks about Orly or others!
One would take their own life with a gun to their head…or into their mouths!
Don’t take anything seriously that this “psychotic” posts! He’s just an “agitator” that likes to “flake out” online!
Have a good day, Mate!
Davey Crockett…