The main entrance gate at Aviano Air Base, Italy, is shown in this undated photo. Airman 1st Class Kaleb Stanley, of Great Falls, Mont., was pronounced dead in his base dormitory June 15, 2025, Aviano said in a statement posted Tuesday on Facebook. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
NAPLES, Italy — Air Force officials this week identified an active-duty airman who recently died at Aviano Air Base in Italy.
Airman 1st Class Kaleb Stanley, of Great Falls, Mont., was pronounced dead in his on-base dormitory at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, a statement posted to Aviano’s Facebook page Tuesday said. It’s unclear how he died.
Stanley, 20, was an electrical systems apprentice with the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, according to the statement.
He enlisted in the Air Force in August and had been stationed at Aviano since March 18, base spokesman Capt. Stephen Garrett said in response to questions.
An investigation into Stanley’s death is underway, according to the statement.
“Our focus right now is to support the member’s family, co-workers and all of those affected by this tragic loss,” Brig. Gen. Tad Clark, the 31st Fighter Wing commander, said in the statement.
Stanley is the second airman assigned to Aviano to die in less than two months.
Tech Sgt. Clemente Velasco, a maintenance operations controller with the 31st Maintenance Squadron, died in the early-morning hours of April 25. Velasco, 30, was from Austin, Texas.
Base officials didn’t release details about Velasco’s death, but the Italian media outlet Ansa reported at the time that he collapsed outside a nightclub in Montereale Valcellina and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Pordenone.
