Army Staff Sgt. David P. Senft

Died November 15, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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27, of Grass Valley, Calif.; assigned to 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Nov. 15 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident.

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‘Adrenaline junkie’ wanted to work on Black Hawk crew

The Associated Press

David P. Senft’s adventures began when he was a boy and by the time he was in his 20s, he was what his father called a “thrill seeker.”

“I’d call him an adrenaline junkie,” the elder Senft told The Union newspaper in California.

Senft, a door gunner for a Black Hawk helicopter crew, died Nov. 15 in a non-combat related incident at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, the military said. The 27-year-old was assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky.

In his youth, Senft went rock climbing and on other expeditions with his father, David H. Senft.

After he saw the 1990s film “Black Hawk Down” he knew he wanted to work on a helicopter crew, and he enlisted in the Army with the hope of doing just that, his stepfather said.

Senft lived in Tracy, Calif., until his early adolesence.

In 2001, he graduated from Sierra Mountain High School in Grass Valley, Calif., which he listed as his hometown. He joined the Army in March 2002.

In addition to his father, Senft’s survivors include his wife, Alyssa S. Senft; a 5-year-old son, Landon N. Ryan; and his mother, Lee A. Snyder.

“He always put others first, and himself last,” his father said.