CAFB Airmen Remember Maj. Richard “Tracer” Schafer

Maj. Schafer

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — Airmen at Columbus Air Force Base are remembering the man they knew as “Tracer.”

Maj. Richard Schafer the third was killed when his privately owned experimental plane crashed in Abilene, Texas this past Sunday, while on vacation with family. His brother, Matthew, also died.

Schafer served as the 49th Fighter Training Squadron Chief of Standards/Evaluations.

He also earned three Air Medals as a combat pilot while serving in the Persian Gulf region.

“‘Tracer’ helped mold in the right image to take care of our wingmen with the right attitude, the right heart, the right thoughts, the right spirit of instruction,” Lt. Col. P.K. Carlton III of the 49th Fighter Squadron said. “It is particularly a huge loss because he was pretty much part of that drive to do it the right way.”

Funeral arrangements for Schafer are incomplete.