DOD: Tresse Z. King, Air Force chief master sergeant, dies in Kuwait

WASHINGTON - A high-ranking Air Force airman who died in a non-combat related incident at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the U.S. Department of Defense announced on Thursday. 

Chief Master Sergeant Tresse Z. King, 54, of Raeford, North Carolina, died on Aug. 3, according to a DOD press release. A cause of death was not immediately released and DOD officials said the incident is currently under investigation. 

Before being stationed in Kuwait, King had served as superintendent for the 374th Force Support Squadron in Japan. King served in the Air Force for nearly 30 years. 

King was also the mother of George King, who played for the Colorado University men’s basketball team. In 2016, King traveled to the University where she was honored with a promotion ceremony, according to a university press release. 

She was promoted to chief master sergeant on Veterans Day 2016 in the basketball arena where her son, George, played basketball. Veterans Day and King’s promotion that year coincided with the school’s season-opening basketball game. 

"I'm humbled to have this opportunity to do what people have done for me the last 25 years. I've always had people who treated me well and taken care of me; now it's my turn to help take care of people. My kids will be there and it will be on Veterans Day at one of George's basketball games," King said in a Colorado University press release in 2016. 

Video posted in 2016 by the Pac-12 Conference shows the ceremony. 

"During halftime of tonight's Colorado Buffaloes Men's Basketball game, Tresse King, the mother of Buffs guard George King, received her promotion to Chief Master Sergeant. Congratulations, Tresse!" Pac-12 Conference wrote on Facebook. 

This story was reported from Los Angeles.