Staff Sergeant Alexander Dalida was born on June 7, 1985, and grew up in Dunstable, Massachusetts, a small town on the New Hampshire border. His parents Paul and Dianna Dalida and his sister Cassandra remained rooted in north-central Massachusetts as he built a life of service far from home.
Alexander enlisted in the Army in September 2006. He completed basic training with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He then spent the next decade in Army aviation, serving with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division and with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), the Night Stalkers. As an MH-60 maintainer and nonrated crew member, he helped keep special operations helicopters flying and flew aboard them. He deployed to Afghanistan and earned the Air Medal and the Combat Action Badge.
His training included Combatives Level 1, Enlisted Combat Skills, MH-60 maintainer and crew member qualifications, the Basic Leader and Advanced Leader Courses, Air Movement Operations, Airborne School, Air Assault School and the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape course. His awards include the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, three Army Good Conduct Medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Aviation Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Air Assault Badge.
Not content to support special operations from the flight line, Alexander set out to earn the Green Beret. He passed Special Forces Assessment and Selection and was assigned to the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, where he entered the Special Forces Engineer Sergeant Course, the 18C phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course.
On September 14, 2017, Alexander was killed during a demolitions training exercise at Fort Bragg. Seven other soldiers were injured. He was 32. The commander of the Special Warfare Center and School said, “We consider every student who enters our institution a part of our SWCS family. Staff Sgt. Dalida’s death is a reminder that a Soldier’s job is inherently dangerous.”
Alexander is survived by his wife Rebecca and their daughters Jayla, Brooklyn, Aubrianna and Natalia of Sanford, North Carolina, as well as by his parents and his sister. He is remembered by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes and by the Memorial Valor Foundation as a soldier who gave everything in pursuit of the Green Beret.
Alexander gave everything to earn the Special Forces Green Beret. His drive, passion and spirit live on in the MVF family.
USAJFKSWCS Command Tribute
Sources
- U.S. Army: Special Forces Soldier identified as casualty in Fort Bragg training incident (Sept. 15, 2017)
- U.S. Army: Update on training incident on Fort Bragg range
- The Washington Post: One Special Forces soldier killed, seven injured during demolition training
- Massachusetts Fallen Heroes: Alexander P. Dalida
- NBC Boston: Local soldier killed in Fort Bragg training exercise
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Alex Dalida Bio.docx
