FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) -- Military officials say an airman from Georgia was among those killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department said Thursday that 38-year-old Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, of Conyers, died Wednesday after the attack in Kunar province.

Gray was an air liaison officer and flight commander for the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 13th Air Support Operations Squadron, which is part of the 93d Air Ground Operations Wing headquartered at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. Gray's unit was integrating combat airpower into ground operations.

Wing commander Col. Samuel Milam called Gray a "tremendous" officer and leader.

Gray was commissioned in October 1997 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps after serving as an enlisted airman and was one of the Air Force's first career air liaison officers.