MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Col. Richard E. White died unexpectedly on Jan. 24.

Col. White was born Aug. 14, 1967, and was a graduate of Lisbon High School. He attended the University of Maine at Orono and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army upon graduation. In 1989, he began his distinguished career with the Second Battalion, 44th Air Defense Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Ft. Campbell, Ky., where he deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Col. White had numerous assignments throughout the world including being special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in May 1999, assumed duties as the Aide-de-Camp to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He continued his career including three assignments in Iraq. He is an Air War College graduate and began duty as an instructor in the Department of Leadership and Warfighting in June 2011 at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala.

Col. White is survived by his wife, Valerie; two children, Keira and Braiden of Montgomery, Ala.; parents, Charlie and Betty White of Lisbon Falls; brother, Charlie of Colebrook, N.H; and extended family in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia.