An Air Force service member died Saturday after falling from the rafters of the Alamodome during a pregame stunt in San Antonio, Texas, bringing renewed attention to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the military’s use of promotional spectacles at public events.
The airman died at a local hospital following the rappelling demonstration ahead of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game against the U.S. Naval Academy.
Footage circulating on social media captured the out-of-control descent, showing spectators inside the arena growing silent as first responders rushed onto the field.
“He died,” Jackie Singh, an aide on Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, wrote on X. “Thanks @PeteHegseth @SecWar for yet another pointless and tragic recruiting spectacle.”
Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson described the incident as “absolutely sickening.”
“This ridiculous military showboating at football games needs to STOP,” Jackson wrote on X. “Now a man could lose his life, all because some Hegseth-like official apparently thought putting on a macho spectacle for people who came to watch FOOTBALL was a brilliant idea. These men are human beings, NOT props for someone’s political theater.”
Hegseth has previously emphasized a renewed focus on a “warrior ethos” across the armed services, which has included an increase in high-visibility military displays at public events. Rappelling demonstrations have long been an annual feature of the university’s military appreciation games.
The Air Force confirmed Sunday that the service member was assigned to Detachment 2 of the 6th Combat Training Squadron, a unit operating out of Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis under a parent squadron based at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The unit provides training for tactical air traffic controllers.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, one of four service members participating in the demonstration slipped down a rope from the rafters in “an uncontrolled manner” and hit the ground.
Medical personnel quickly treated the airman on the field before the San Antonio Fire Department transported him to a hospital as a Priority 1 patient, indicating life-threatening injuries. The service member later died from those injuries.
The name of the airman has not been released pending notification of next of kin, and the Air Force said the cause of the fall remains under investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the start of tonight’s football game,” a university spokesperson posted on Instagram Saturday evening. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues.”
The accident delayed the start of the game by 10 minutes as the head coach, Jeff Traylor, kept his team in the locker room while medical personnel treated the airman.
“The only information I had was there had been an incident, and the game was going to be delayed, and we didn’t expand upon it any further than that,” Traylor said after the game. “I didn’t know if I did the right thing or not. I didn't know anything. I didn't know what to tell them, so that's how I handled it.”
Traylor noted that his players “could just tell the energy was gone” when they returned to the field in what he described as a somber environment. The University of Texas at San Antonio went on to defeat Navy, 38-34, before a crowd of 23,297.
“Just thinking thoughts and prayers with that family,” Owen McCown, the team’s quarterback, told reporters after the game. “I know we said a prayer postgame, but they’ll continue being in our thoughts and prayers, and really thinking about them.”
McCown added that resuming play following the emergency was difficult for the players.
“It’s hard,” he said. “I just think as players too, my thoughts go immediately with the family. It’s obviously bigger than football.
“And then as just the game went on, kind of got the ebbs and flows, and getting back to playing football. And I thought at first, it was hard to get around, and then finally got going again.”
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