Technical Sergeant
Dashan J. Briggs
Special Missions Aviator
106th NYS Air National Guard
Westhampton Beach, New York
Technical Sergeant Dashan J. Briggs, born December 28, 1987 to Sharon Young and Gregory Briggs Sr. and a 2007 graduate of Riverhead High School, where he played lacrosse and led the Blue Waves football team through an undefeated season in 2006.
Briggs grew up on Lewis Street, which now bears the honorary name of “Dashan J. Briggs Way.” Briggs dedicated his life and commitment to his community, he was well known for his volunteerism and ever-willingness to lend a hand. A noted selfless man, integrity was Dashan’s way of life.
Dashan’s high school friends remember him as as the ‘cool guy’ with a variety of cars that he kept in immaculate condition. He was the ‘ride-or-die’ friend; a straight-up gentleman, family guy, and brother to all. Dashan’s grandfather fondly remembers him as his fishing buddy, his four-wheeling companion, and as a young man who illuminated life. His grandson, he says, was "a good man, a loving man."
In 2010, Tech. Sgt. Briggs joined the Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing and was deployed to Afghanistan as a munitions system specialist. Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Lisec, HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter pilot from the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard, humorously shares memories of Briggs coming to the 106th as an ammunitions specialist, bringing a fierce desire to serve coupled with a deeply ingrained work ethic. But there was one big problem — Briggs didn't know how to swim (once needing to be saved by a high school friend while swimming in the ocean). Undaunted, Dashan took Safety Swim classes with toddlers, never wavering in his dedication.
Close friends remember Dashan as always traveling, exploring, looking to meet new people, and looking to better himself. “When Briggs wanted something he went out and got it.”
Dashan went on to marry his lovely wife, Rebecca and became a dad to son, Jayden (2015) and daughter, Ava (2016). Dashan loved deeply and did everything for his family.
Tech. Sgt. Dashan Briggs was a 30-year-old special missions aviation flight engineer at the time of his death. He had deployed to Afghanistan as a munitions system specialist with the 106th Maintenance Group, and to Texas and the Caribbean for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma as a member of the 101st Helicopter Rescue Squadron, one of three flying squadrons that make up the 106th Rescue Wing. He and his fellow airmen were flying in a HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopter from the 101st when they crashed on the afternoon of March 15 near the city of Al-Qa’im in western Iraq, where they were performing combat search and rescue operations supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Dashan was one of 12 local Air National Guard members who received the NYS Humane Service Medal in 2011 for their services during Hurricane Irene. He was posthumously promoted from a Staff Sergeant to a Technical Sergeant in 2018.
Technical Sergeant Dashan J. Briggs was laid to rest at Calverton National Cemetery on March 29, 2018.
Dashan J. Briggs
December 28, 1987 - March 15, 2018
We thank the following media outlets for putting our love and memories of Dashan into words…