Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Combat controllers salute the portrait of Senior Airman Adam Servais during a presentation Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.Combat controllers salute the portrait of Senior Airman Adam Servais during a  presentation Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Peter Servais speaks about his son, Senior Airman Adam Servais, after receiving a portrait in his memory Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.Peter Servais speaks about his son, Senior Airman Adam Servais, after receiving a portrait in his memory Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Artist Phil Taylor speaks to the family of Senior Airman Adam Servais before presenting the portrait honoring his service Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.Artist Phil Taylor speaks to the family of Senior Airman Adam Servais before presenting the portrait honoring his service Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Lt. Col. Michael Flatten speaks about Senior Airman Adam Servais during a memorial portrait presentation Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller. Flatten is the 720th Special Tactics Group deputy commander and former 23rd Special Tactics Squadron director of operations.Lt. Col. Michael Flatten speaks about Senior Airman Adam Servais during a memorial portrait presentation Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller. Flatten is the 720th Special Tactics Group deputy commander and former 23rd Special Tactics Squadron director of operations.
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Peter Servais (left) hugs artist Phil Taylor as his daughter, Laura, and wife, Susan, look on after the unveiling of the portrait in honor of his son, Senior Airman Adam Servais Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.Peter Servais (left) hugs artist Phil Taylor as his daughter, Laura, and wife, Susan, look on after the unveiling of the portrait in honor of his son, Senior Airman Adam Servais Oct. 19, 2013, in Destin, Fla. Servais was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, while deployed to Afghanistan as a 23rd Special Tactics Squadron combat controller.
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Artist's brush memorializes fallen combat controllerPublished Oct. 22, 2013
                    
                    By Rachel Arroyo
                    
                    
                    Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs
            **HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) --**Susan Servais gently pressed her forehead against the portrait of her son. His green eyes smiled out at her and the audience of about 200 that gathered to pay respects to a hero, and see his portrait unveiled Oct. 19, in Destin, Fla.
The man with the green eyes and kind smile is Senior Airman Adam Servais, an Air Force Special Operations Command combat controller who was killed in action Aug. 19, 2006, in Afghanistan.
Servais, 23, was working as a joint terminal attack controller on a special forces team when he fell while returning fire against the enemy during an ambush on his convoy in the Uruzgan province. It was his second deployment.
The American Fallen Soldiers Project honored his sacrifice by presenting his mother and father, Peter and Susan Servais, and his sister, Laura, with a portrait of Adam.
The goal of the American Fallen Soldiers Project, a nonprofit organization run by artist Phil Taylor and his wife Lisa, is to bring comfort and healing to the families of fallen warriors by presenting them with a custom painting of their loved one.
Taylor paints and presents about 35 portraits a year to families of fallen military members.
"I hope those beautiful green eyes stare back at you for many years to come," Taylor told the family as he unveiled the painting and “Amazing Grace” sounded on the bagpipes.
The portrait of Servais, of Onalaska, Wis., was presented during the 2013 Combat Control Association Reunion which marked the 60th year of combat control as an Air Force career field.
Lt. Col. Michael Flatten, the event's guest speaker, was the director of operations at the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, at Hurlburt Field, Fla., when Servais was assigned there. 
He spoke to Servais' spirit and exemplary work as a combat controller.
"Adam was the perfect balance of good-natured, fun and borderline getting in trouble," Flatten said. "The other side of him was the serious operator -- the guy who knows how to turn it on when the mission is deadly serious. Where we sent Adam for his deployment is historically one of the most intense locations for combat we have ever seen. For his first JTAC deployment, we handpicked Adam for that location because he was just that good."
Servais’s father said even as a boy his son loved being in the action, whether it was camping with his family, playing football, baseball or, his favorite sport, hockey. 
"He had this Big Wheel that he would ride up and down the driveway," he said. "The faster he'd go, the more he loved it."
Servais found his calling after he enlisted in the Air Force in 2002 at 19 and became a combat controller on completion of Advanced Skills Training in September 2004.
His mother said she thinks her son would have made a career of combat control were he still alive because he enjoyed his work and being a part of the special tactics brotherhood so much.
"Many people work their whole lives and hate their jobs, but Adam loved what he did," she said. "He loved it to the limit. He pushed as far as he could go."
Since his death seven years ago, the Servais family has remained in close contact with the community their son loved.
His father thanked the American Fallen Soldiers Project and all those attendees for honoring the life of his son, adding the AFSOC community has stood by them.
"This is a very special day for Susan, myself and Laura," he said. "We are so lucky because the military never forgets us. It helps us through all the difficulties and keeps in touch. This is very special and dear to us and will be for the rest of our lives."
Among the crowd honoring Servais and his family were 15 other family members of fallen special operations forces members and several wounded warriors.honor 



Florida 



Hurlburt Field 



special operations 



AFSOC Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil