Major Adrianna Maria Vorderbruggen, An Airman's Story

 

Major Adrianna Maria Vorderbruggen, An Airman's Story

Major Adrianna Maria Vorderbruggen
Born November 22, 1979 – Died December 21, 2015

Major Adrianna Maria Vorderbruggen was born on November 22, 1979, in Bogotá, Colombia, and grew up in Plymouth, Minnesota. She attended Wayzata High School, where she excelled as an athlete and helped lead her soccer team to a state championship before graduating in 1998.

Vorderbruggen was accepted to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While a cadet, she played rugby and served as a co-captain of the team. She graduated in May 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Sciences and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

Selected to become a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Vorderbruggen completed her training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in 2003. Her assignments took her across the United States and overseas, including a deployment to Iraq. She later attended George Washington University, earning a Master of Forensic Sciences degree, and served as a forensic science consultant before joining the 9th Field Investigations Squadron.

In 2015, Major Vorderbruggen deployed to Afghanistan as commander of AFOSI Expeditionary Detachment 2405 at Bagram Airfield. On December 21, 2015, she and five fellow Airmen were killed when a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle attacked their patrol near Bagram. She was only 36 and supported Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Known to those around her as "Major V," Vorderbruggen was remembered by her fellow Airmen as a leader who led from the front, cared deeply for the people under her command, and approached both her work and her life with humor, humility, and determination.

Major Adrianna Maria Vorderbruggen was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on January 19, 2016. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations continues to honor her service, and she is remembered among its fallen heroes.

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**About the Author**
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

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