John Auffrey—rest in peace

DISAM Journal, Summer, 2004

The security assistance community suffered a tragic loss on May 23, 2004, when Mr. John Auffrey was killed during a robbery of his hotel room in Monrovia, Liberia. Mr. Auffrey, based out of the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia, was visiting war-torn Liberia as part of a U.S. government delegation to assess the establishment of a new Liberian national army. He was stabbed to death when a group of unidentified men attempted to rob him in his hotel room. Mr. Auffrey, age 44, was the security assistance program administrator at the American Embassy in Namibia. He was a two-time Defense Institute of Security Assistance graduate, from both the Overseas Course in 2001 and the Advanced Training Course in 2003.

John Auffrey was born in 1960 in Ionia, Michigan and moved with his family to Colorado in 1968. He graduated in 1982 from Colorado College in Colorado Springs where he studied Russian. After graduation, he worked as a county administrator in Colorado, served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, and taught school in Michigan. In 1992, he accepted a position as a social studies teacher at Windhoek International School in Windhoek, Namibia. While there, he met and married his wife Helen Brandt, a Namibian citizen, who was also a teacher and noted artist. During his tenure, Mr. Auffrey received special recognition in a national teachers competition for his first-place essay on the Namibian constitution. In 2001 he was hired at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek as the security assistance officer, under the European Command guidance.

Because of suspended programs in Namibia, the European Command asked Mr. Auffrey to stand up its security assistance program in Sao Tome earlier this year, a mission which he accomplished superbly. In May, he became one of four civilians who accompanied thirty U.S. military personnel to Liberia to set up a new Office of Defense Cooperation in support of the European Command "Liberia Train and Equip" program. Mr. Auffrey was staying at the Mamba Point Hotel in the diplomatic enclave of Monrovia when assailants entered his hotel room, robbed him of valuables, and killed him. Mr. Auffrey's body was later flown by a United States Air Force aircraft back to Windhoek, where a memorial service was held.

John Auffrey was widely regarded by friends and acquaintances as a friendly, likeable, and professional security assistance officer. His sister, Mary Auffrey of Golden, Colorado, said of her brother, "He was generous, bright, nonjudgmental, a guy who worked for peace and had his life ended in violence." In addition to Mary, Mr. Auffrey is survived by his wife Helen, his parents, five other sisters, and two brothers.

Both the Auffrey family in Colorado and the U.S. Embassy in Namibia have reportedly been swamped with flowers and sympathy cards. His family has requested that any further expressions of condolences be through donations to the HIV/AIDs center which John helped (via the Humanitarian Assistance Program) at the following address:

U.S. Embassy, Namibia

Attn: De Ark c/o Mr. Robert Kennedy

14 Lossen Street

Auspannplatz

Windhoek, Namibia