{"id":45418,"date":"2026-08-14T23:44:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45418"},"modified":"2026-08-14T23:44:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:44:26","slug":"2-soldiers-killed-in-texas-military-helicopter-crash-identified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45418","title":{"rendered":"2 soldiers killed in Texas military helicopter crash identified"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-866ac8\" class=\"body-graf\">The U.S. Army has released the names of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/two-people-are-dead-military-helicopter-crashes-texas-sparking-fire-rcna592238\" target=\"_blank\">two soldiers killed <\/a>Wednesday after a military helicopter \u201cexperienced a mishap\u201d and crashed in a field near Salado, Texas. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-61aac9\" class=\"body-graf\">The pilots were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead. Both were assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood said in a news release. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-689556\" class=\"body-graf\">Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, joined the Army in February 2014 as a motor transport operator and had been assigned to the unit since February 2022. Olmstead, 25, of Belton, Texas, joined the Army in January 2023 as a warrant officer candidate and had been assigned to the unit since October 2025.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-54913a\" class=\"body-graf\">Huey and Olmstead were aboard an Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter when it crashed. Officials responded to the scene after receiving 911 calls around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Bell County Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6bc91c\" class=\"body-graf\">In a statement Friday, the Army said the helicopter \u201cexperienced a mishap\u201d during a maintenance test flight but provided no further details.  <\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-4ce66b\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"800\" data-original-width=\"1200\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260814-Deontre-T-Huey-Seth-L-Olmstead-ch-0958-d1d05a.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260814-Deontre-T-Huey-Seth-L-Olmstead-ch-0958-d1d05a.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260814-Deontre-T-Huey-Seth-L-Olmstead-ch-0958-d1d05a.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260814-Deontre-T-Huey-Seth-L-Olmstead-ch-0958-d1d05a.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260814-Deontre-T-Huey-Seth-L-Olmstead-ch-0958-d1d05a.jpg\" alt=\"A split composite of Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey.\" height=\"800\" width=\"1200\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">U.S. Army<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-0e5b62\" class=\"body-graf\">The AH-64 Apache is a twin-engine, four-bladed, multi-mission attack helicopter designed as a highly stable aerial weapons-delivery platform, according to the Army\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/137579\/ah_64e_apache_attack_helicopter\" target=\"_blank\"> website, <\/a>which describes it as \u201cthe most advanced aerial fighting vehicle in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-7a59fb\" class=\"body-graf\">The crash sparked a grass fire that grew to about 155 acres, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BCSD13\/posts\/pfbid0RTuspA8ibA5bDgwfeJQkdReZ3haD1xGXZ9HNZvvN8oL6jrZ6fLBjwfwjja3bsWPvl\" target=\"_blank\">the sheriff\u2019s office said<\/a>. Five homes and nine outbuildings were threatened; all but one outbuilding were saved. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-469526\" class=\"body-graf\">The fire has been fully contained, and fire officials expect to declare it  100 percent controlled at approximately 5:00 p.m. Sunday, barring significant flare-ups, the sheriff\u2019s office said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-526e90\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cOur hearts and deepest condolences are with the families of the soldiers we lost Wednesday,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, commanding general of III Armored Corps and Fort Hood. \u201cThe Army is a family, and a tragedy like this is felt throughout our formations and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a2059a\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">The crash remains under investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Army has released the names of the two soldiers killed Wednesday after a military helicopter \u201cexperienced a mishap\u201d and crashed in a field near Salado, Texas. The pilots were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead. Both were assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260812-salado-texas-helicopter-crash-ew-542p-0c9cbb.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}