Kenny's Story
captain kenneth stephen dalga, usaf
9.30.87 - 3.14.17
Captain Kenneth Dalga is known to most of us just as Kenny.
Kenny was born in Goldsboro, NC where his mother and father, Steve and Tracey Dalga, were stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB as his father served in the Air Force as well there. His family returned to Northern Kentucky where Kenny grew up alongside his younger brother, Nolan, and much of their extended family. Kenny attended the University of Kentucky for college from 2005-2010, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It was at UK that Kenny met most of his closest friends that serve as Board of Directors for the CKDF, including his wife Sarah. After college, and after having moved to Denver, Colorado while Sarah attended graduate school, Kenny found his greater purpose, being accepted into the United States Air Force as a Combat Systems Officer.
Kenny continued on to complete Officer Training School (OTS) at Maxwell AFB in 2013, and complete Combat Systems Officer (CSO) training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL in 2014. It was there that Kenny was paired with the aircraft platform that he would train on, the U-28A intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft as part of the Air Force Special Operations Forces. Kenny and Sarah were married in May of 2014 in Louisville, KY, and shortly thereafter Kenny started his U-28 training at the 19th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
In December of 2014, Kenny and Sarah were off to Cannon AFB in Clovis, NM to join the 318th Special Operations Squadron. At Cannon, Kenny served alongside his fellow Dark Horses, deploying overseas three times, including to Africa and the Middle East.
Captain Dalga earned three meritous recognitions as a result of his outstanding service: The Air Medal, the Air Commendation Medal, and the Joint Service Achievement Medal.
After three deployments, Kenny and Sarah welcomed their only child, Noah Stephen, in November of 2016 in Clovis, NM. Kenny was the proudest new father. He most looked forward to coaching Noah's baseball team one day and passing along his unparalleled love for Kentucky Basketball.
While Noah was too young to have memories of his dad, he will grow up hearing the countless stories of Kenny's infectious personality and exceptional character.
"I've never been so happy - to be so tired." -Kenny
March 14, 2017
In the evening of March 14, 2017, Captain Kenneth Dalga was one of three Air Force service members that lost their lives during a training mission when their U-28 aircraft (call sign DEMISE 25) experienced an unrecoverable stall and crashed outside the Clovis, New Mexico municipal airport.
Captain Kenneth Dalga, Major Andrew Becker, and Captain Drew Dellecker were not only all members of the 318th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon AFB in Clovis, NM at the time, but were also good friends, comrades, and honorable men. They are missed every single day, but
never forgotten.
