Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Kraus

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Joseph Kraus, 39, of Sanibel, FL, was assigned to C Company, 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), the elite unit known as the Night Stalkers. CW3 Kraus and three others died on September 17, 2025, when his MH-60M Black Hawk struck electrical transmission lines and crashed near Summit Lake, WA, during a nighttime training flight.

CW3 Kraus entered the Marine Corps in July 2008 and served through 2013 as a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter maintainer. He subsequently joined the Army in 2017, completing Army Warrant Officer Candidate School and flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Upon graduation, he served as an Aeromedical Evacuation Pilot-in-Command in Germany, joined the 160th SOAR in 2023 and completed the Aviation Maintenance Test Pilot Course in 2025.

His 160th SOAR commander remembered CW3 Kraus and his crewmates for their “unwavering dedication, selflessness, and excellence.” He described them as elite professionals and “cherished teammates, friends, and family members” whose deaths left an immeasurable void.

CW3 Kraus was survived by his wife and two daughters.