LOUISVILLE - The two members of the Kentucky Air National Guard aboard a military plane that crashed in Puerto Rico were both combat controllers in the guard's 123rd Special Tactics Squadron.

        Tech. Sgt. Christopher A. Matero, 31, of Greenville, Ind., was identified Saturday. He was on federal active duty while participating in a training mission at the time of the accident Wednesday night.

        Sgt. Matero served in the Air Force for more than 10 years, but had been a combat controller for the Kentucky wing for just over a year, said Capt. Jeffrey Wilkinson, team leader of the tactics squadron.

        On Friday, the Air Force released the names of seven airmen killed in the accident, including Tech. Sgt. Martin A. Tracy, 33, of Louisville, another combat controller.

        Combat controllers are essentially air traffic controllers for special operations, charged with setting up small radar and communications sites, many times in hostile territory, to guide aircraft onto makeshift runways, Capt. Wilkinson said.

        During the early stages of an operation, a combat controller might be on the ground alone - or nearly so - identifying and marking landing zones by infrared light.

        The job is so specialized that the Air Force has only about 350 combat controllers for 10,000 pilots.

        “It's devastating to the unit, because we are a very small unit in a very small career field,” he said. “It impacts everyone worldwide in combat control.”

        Both men had been assigned to duty in Puerto Rico for 2 months. In all, 10 American servicemen were killed in the crash.

        A board of officers will investigate the accident, Air Force officials said Saturday.

        Both Sgt. Matero and Sgt. Tracy were married and fathers of two, Capt. Wilkinson said.

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