US Air Force Academy Cadet Found Dead in Dorm Room

US Air Force Academy Cadet Passes Away

Tragedy struck at the Unit­ed States Air Force Acad­e­my (USAFA) this week as a 19-year-old first-year cadet was found dead in her Col­orado dorm room.

Avery Koonce, a tal­ent­ed ath­lete from Tyler, Texas, was “found uncon­scious” in her Col­orado Springs room on Thurs­day, accord­ing to a USAFA statement.

Cadet’s Promising Future Cut Short

Cadet Koonce was a mem­ber of USAFA’s class of 2028 and was a part of the wom­en’s track and field team. She had expressed excite­ment about her jour­ney at the acad­e­my, writ­ing on social media in Decem­ber 2023: 

“I am excit­ed to announce my com­mit­ment to the Unit­ed States Air Force Acad­e­my to run track & field! I am so beyond grate­ful for every­one who has helped me along in this jour­ney. All Glo­ry To God!” Koonce was plan­ning to major in biol­o­gy and minor in kine­si­ol­o­gy, with hopes of becom­ing a pilot phys­i­cal therapist.

Investigation Underway, Community in Mourning

Despite the efforts of acad­e­my first respon­ders, Koon­ce’s life-sav­ing mea­sures were unsuc­cess­ful, and the cause of her death remains under inves­ti­ga­tion. USAFA Super­in­ten­dent Lt. Gen.

Tony Bauern­feind expressed the acad­e­my’s deep sor­row, stat­ing, “We lost an incred­i­ble team­mate … While only with us for a short time, Avery pos­i­tive­ly impact­ed her unit, her inter­col­le­giate team, and her class — her loss will be felt across USAFA.”

The tragedy has left the USAFA com­mu­ni­ty in mourn­ing, with friends, acquain­tances, and oth­ers offer­ing their con­do­lences on social media. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Pete Ses­sions, who had nom­i­nat­ed Koonce to attend the acad­e­my, described her as a “tal­ent­ed ath­lete” and expressed his pro­found sad­ness over the loss of this young cadet.