Who is Downs? Published Oct. 17, 2014 By Airman John Day 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Columbus Air Force Base often honors its heroes with a tribute to their great sacrifice in the form of dedication of a building, street or hall. The previously known E Street was renamed Downs Street in honor of Maj. William Downs, a decorated pilot who graduated from Columbus in Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 89-07. Downs was born on January 30, 1965, at Rota Naval Air Station in Rota, Spain, where his father, Lon Downs, was stationed. He was commissioned in 1988 after earning a bachelor's degree in international business at Grove City College, in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He was assigned to the 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, when he left active duty to join the West Virginia Air National Guard and to fly commercial aircraft in Baltimore, Maryland. Months after US Airways placed Downs on furlough in 2002, he returned to active duty at Hurlburt Field and was reassigned to the same unit. Downs flew many aircraft including the B-52, C-130, MC-130 and OV-10. He served in numerous key missions including Operations Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He began his last deployment to Iraq in February 2005. Downs flew more than 90 combat sorties in an Iraqi aircraft and was directly responsible for capturing or killing 60 insurgents and nine high-value targets. Downs was assisting the newly established Iraqi Air Force when his aircraft went down during a training mission near the Iranian border on Memorial Day in 2005. On the day of the crash, he and four others were on a training mission, flying a six-seat Comp Air 7SL fixed-wing aircraft. The crash occurred while in route to Julula, Iraq. The crash took the life of Downs, Iraqi Air Force Capt. Ali Abass, U.S. Air Force Capts. Jeremy Fresques and Derek Argel, both special tactics officers, and Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, a combat controller. Downs' remains are buried with his fallen brothers in Arlington Cemetery who died that day. He is survived by his wife, Beth; three children, Chandler, Bailey and Elle; and his brother, Frank.