Farmhouse Plans: Pararescue Jumpers

Pararescue Jumpers

Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham was a United States Air Force who was killed in action on March 4, 2002 while taking part in Operation Anaconda during the US war in Afghanistan. Cunningham was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions during this engagement, which were credited with helping to save the lives of ten wounded soldiers.

Cunningham was born on March 27, 1975 and was a native of Carlsbad, New Mexico. He enlisted in the US Navy in February 1995. While at his duty station on September 25, 1995 in Naples, Italy, Cunningham met Theresa Castro, a Navy enlisted woman who would later become his wife and mother of his two daughters. Cunningham thought about joining the Navy and had passed the fitness test, but decided instead to train to become an Air Force. He left the Navy in 1998 and joined the Air Force in 1999. He completed the 21-month training in June 2001, and was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2002. In Afghanistan, Cunningham was deployed to Air Base. While at Senior Airman Cunningham successfully pushed to allow to carry whole blood into combat, which had not been allowed previously due to its status as a "FDA [Food and Drug Administration] controlled substance".