Kentucky is mourning the loss of another fallen service member during Operation Epic Fury.

Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt was a native to Bardstown, where her Air Force aspirations began.

Our Laura Rogers has more from Nelson County.

Leadership, teamwork and community service.

Those things came second nature to Ashley.

Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt graduated from Nelson County High School as home of the Cardinals.

Students are encouraged to take flight.

Words Pruitt took to heart for freshman year.

We were having our first unit evaluation from Headquarters Air Force Junior ROTC.

That was a couple of decades ago, but the memories are still fresh for Colonel Donna Lucchese.

She was so poised and so confident and so good.

Pruitt served as a flight commander and junior ROTC, where she and her fellow cadets impressed Lucchese with their hard work and determination.

They built the foundation for a really great program, and it really left a legacy and a foundation for several years to come.

The teen also served her community.

They're organizations like March of Dimes for H and relay for life.

She was just involved leading mentoring and performing service at a at a young age.

So it came as no surprise to Lucchese, herself a retired colonel with 25 years in the Air Force, that Ashley would pursue and achieve a successful military career.

There was no maybe about it with Ashley.

She was determined and committed and devoted to achieving that goal.

Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt entered the Air Force in 2017.

She paid a visit to her former ROTC instructor before she left.

She was talking about going to be a boom operator and all that stuff, and she was very excited and looking forward to reaching that step in her journey.

That journey would come to an end March 12th, in a midair collision over friendly territory and a combat mission in western Iraq.

Air refueling.

You think about that just by its nature.

You have a plane that's up in the air, maybe 30, 35,000ft up, that is reaching a boom out that maybe 50ft long to refuel another aircraft midair.

So there's an inherent risk in that every day.

And they're doing that all of the time because that's how we move our aircraft, how we deploy the other aircraft.

Pruitt was assigned to the sixth Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, back home in Bardstown.

Flags are at half staff as the community mourns the airman's loss.

I consider Ashley, of course, to be a true patriot.

She absolutely loved her country.

And a true hero.

A true hero indeed.

Sergeant Pruitt was just 34 years old.

She leaves behind a husband, a daughter and stepson.

The city of Bardstown says in part, we are deeply saddened by the loss of Tech Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, who gave her life and service to our nation during a refueling mission in Iraq.

Her courage, dedication and selfless commitment to protecting others represent the very best of our community and our country.

It goes on to say Bardstown will forever honor her sacrifice and remember her as a true American hero.

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