Jeffery Lund Stevens, Captain, USAF (Fallen)
May 19, 1961 – August 14, 1987

Bozeman – Jeffrey L. Stevens, 26, of Bozeman, was a captain in the U.S. Air Force. He died Friday as the result of a helicopter accident at Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, a son of Col. Ronald B. Stevens and Ilah G. Stevens. He attended numerous schools including East High School, Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Cheyenne Mountain High School, Colorado Springs, Colo. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1983 and completed rotary wing pilot training before his assignment as a rated pilot with the 55th Rescue and Recovery Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base. He was promoted to captain June 1 and was recently advanced to instructor pilot with more than 1,000 hours of flight time in the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

Survivors include his parents of Bozeman; a sister, Mrs. Leigh M. Lehman of Stilwell, Kan.; and his grandparents, Connie Lund of Fairfield, Mrs. Lucille Hollum of Great Falls and Mrs. Frances Stevens of Billings.

Services will be 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Dahl Funeral Chapel, Bozeman, with burial in Sunset Hills Cemetery.

Published in The Billings Gazette, 21 Aug 1987, Fri, Page 10 (Billings, Montana)

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UH-60A #81-23647
Pope AFB, NC.
14 August 1987

A UH-60A #81-23647 Black Hawk helicopter (Call sign “Hawk 47”) assigned to the 55th ARRS at Eglin AFB, FL., crashed near Pope AFB, NC. Aug. 14, killing its four crew members.

Dead are: Capt. Ralph Gehringer, 26 from Tacoma, WA., aircraft commander; Capt. Jeffrey Stevens, 26, Billings, MT., instructor pilot, and SrA. Jeff Beseke, 21, Alexandria, MN., flight engineer. All were assigned to the 55th ARRS.

The fourth crew member was Maj. Kenneth Reinhard, 42, from Cibolo, TX., a helicopter pilot and an air operations officer from Detachment 2, 23rd Air Force at Fort Bragg, NC. Maj. Reinhard was being given his ‘fini’ flight as he had retired from active duty that day.

The UH-60 helicopter and its three Eglin crew members had been at Pope since Aug. 11 for training. The helicopter departed Pope Aug. 14 at 3:30 p.m. EDT on a training mission to Andrews AFB, MD.

The helicopter crashed in a heavily wooded area on Fort Bragg, about four miles north of Pope AFB. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Air Force has nine other UH-60A Black Hawks assigned to the 39th ARRWg at Eglin AFB. The helicopters, in standard Army configuration, are used for search and rescue operations.

The UH-60 can carry a crew of three and up to 14 passengers and six litters or internal or external cargo.

~Source~
http://www.afspacemuseum.org/library/1987/08-21-87.pdf