Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jesse Anderson first entered the U.S. Army as an aviation warrant officer candidate in October 2000. He attended Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2001 before going on to graduate from a six-week Warrant Officer Candidate School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in 2002. After he was appointed as a warrant officer, Anderson attended flight school at Fort Rucker, where he qualified as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot in 2003. His first assignment was with A Company, 2nd Battalion of the 10th Aviation Regiment at Fort Drum, New York. Later that year he deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He deployed again in 2006, to Kandahar Airfield in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VII. After the deployment, Anderson returned to Fort Drum and later left the active service to become a Guardsman. In 2008, Anderson joined the Idaho Army National Guard as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot. Four years later, he deployed with A Company, 1st of the 168th General Support Aviation Battalion for his second tour to Afghanistan. While in the Idaho Army National Guard, Anderson served as a UH-60 A/L pilot in command, UH-60 A/L instructor pilot, C-12 fixed wing pilot, C-12 operations officer, company and battalion aviation standardization officer and medevac pilot.
He participated in local search and rescue operations, wildland fire fighting missions in California and civil support operations in Guatemala. His awards and decorations include the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Metal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the NATO Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, the Master Aviator Badge, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the California Achievement Medal, the Idaho Emergency Duty Ribbon, and the Idaho Service Ribbon.
Anderson was 43 and lived in Boise with his wife and four children.