Remains Identified of Missing Fort Campbell Soldier

TBI: Remains identified as missing Fort Campbell soldier 
Beaver 1003 FM by Nick Fox
Posted on January 25, 2017 

ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – The skeletal remains found Monday in Robertson County have been positively identified as Pfc. Shadow McClaine.

The Fort Campbell soldier went missing on Sept. 2, 2016 and was never seen or heard from again. read more here

Fort Campbell Hurricane Force Winds

Hurricane-force winds down trees, topple trucks and prompt outages around Colorado Springs
The Gazette
By: Jakob Rodgers
January 10, 2017

In El Paso County, 21 semis were blown over in a six-and-a-half hour span, Colorado State Patrol reported. Most were along Interstate 25, though at least four were toppled along Colo. 115 outside of Fort Carson. No serious injuries were reported.

Near-hurricane force winds continued to pound the Pikes Peak region Monday afternoon, uprooting trees into houses, ripping roofs from buildings, overturning nearly two-dozen semis and leaving thousands of children without after-school bus rides home.

An uprooted tree upended Dean Byrne's WWII-era German jeep in his front yard on Monday. (Kaitlin Durbin, The Gazette)

The winds – which gusted to 101 mph at one point – wreaked havoc across Colorado Springs while turning the Pikes Peak region into a dart board for dislodged tree limbs and other detritus from wind-ravaged buildings.
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Fort Campbell Soldier From Texas Dies In Jordan

Fort Campbell Soldier From Texas Dies In Jordan
News Channel 5
Jan 9, 2017

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - The Department of Defense has announced the death of Special Forces soldier who was serving in Jordan.

According to a statement from the DOD, Spc. Isiah L. Booker of Cibolo, Texas, died Jan. 7 in a noncombat-related incident. Booker was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
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Fort Campbell Wife Celebrated Birth of Quads...Battling Cancer

AWESOME UPDATE
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A GoFundMe campaign for a Fort Campbell soldier and wife with newborn quadruplets has now topped $1 million dollars.



Fort Campbell woman gives birth to quadruplets while battling cancer
WKRN News
Josh Breslow
Published: January 2, 2017

“We know that He’s gotta have a different plan up there for us, and surely everything’s gonna work out in the end,” said Kayla Gaytan.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Fort Campbell soldier and his wife have four tiny reasons to celebrate 2017.

Kayla and Sgt. Charles Gaytan are the proud parents of quadruplets born Friday afternoon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center without fertility treatment of any kind.

“It was exciting. It was nerve-wracking. But to see them when they all came out and to hear them crying, that was really exciting,” Kayla told News 2.

Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last January, Kayla had just finished five months of chemotherapy and was in remission when she learned she was pregnant.

Already a mother-of-two, the 29-year-old was excited to tell her husband Charles, a Fort Campbell soldier.

“She called me on the phone, and we’re in a Humvee and I kinda couldn’t really hear her,” recalled Charles. “It was truly some of the best news I’ve ever gotten in my life.”
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Two Fort Campbell Soldiers Charged With Criminal Homicide

Fort Campbell Soldiers Arrested Christmas Eve, Charged in Slaying
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
By ROB CANNING
DEC 27, 2016

Two Fort Campbell soldiers have been charged with criminal homicide.

Friday, at approximately 1:06 am, Clarksville Police Officers responded to a man covered in blood on the ground at an apartment complex on Royster Lane. Upon arrival, officers discovered 25-year-old Joseph Gordon deceased in the parking lot.
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Soldier Looks Back on Nine Deployments

Face of Defense: Soldier Reflects on His 9 Deployments
Department of Defense
By Army 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson 2nd Brigade Combat Team
101st Airborne Division
December 22, 2016

This is Bailey’s ninth deployment. He has spent half of the past 15 years in the Middle East, with the vast majority of those years on the front line. On this tour, he is the first sergeant of Company A, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Some of the soldiers he now leads were 4 years old when he was first in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan.

NORTHERN IRAQ, Dec. 22, 2016 — Following the 9/11 attacks, Brian Bailey, then a private first class, arrived at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Bailey, the first sergeant of Company A, 1st Battalion 26th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Strike, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), waits for soldiers to arrive to a security patrol briefing in northern Iraq, Dec. 7, 2016. Army photo by 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Bailey, the first sergeant of Company A, 1st Battalion 26th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Strike, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), waits for soldiers to arrive to a security patrol briefing in northern Iraq, Dec. 7, 2016. Army photo by 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson At the replacement company, incoming troops were asked if they wanted to deploy overseas.

Bailey recalled that he and another soldier raised their hands and were separated from the group. A few weeks later, they were both in Afghanistan, he said.

"Making that decision put me at the beginning of all of this," Bailey said. "I was allowed the opportunity to be part of the first big push in the global war on terror."
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Two Fort Campbell Soldiers Charged with Murder of Female Soldier

Two Soldiers Charged with Murder in Connection with Disappearance of Fellow Soldier Shadow McClaine
NBC News
by RACHAEL TROST
November 29, 2016

Shadow Branice McClaine U.S. Army

Criminal Investigation Command

Two soldiers have been charged with murder in connection with the September disappearance of Fort Campbell soldier Shadow McClaine.

Sgt. Jamal Williams-McCray and Specialist Charles Robinson, both part of the 101st Airborne Division, face charges of conspiracy, kidnapping and premeditated murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to NBC affiliate WSMV.

Williams-McCray is Shadow's ex-husband. It's unclear if Robinson knew Shadow.

The two soldiers are being held in pre-trial confinement pending a preliminary hearing, the station reported. Authorities have not commented on whether Shadow's body has been found.
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Fort Campbell Welcomes Home 101st Airborne from Iraq

Soldiers return home to spend Thanksgiving with families
ABC 3 News
Posted: Nov 24, 2016

WSIL -- This Thanksgiving, members of the 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky can celebrate with their families after returning home from the battle to retake Mosul in Iraq.

Fort Campbell troops are greeted by no shortage of cheers after returning from a deployment in Iraq last week. Family and friends embrace these soldiers who spent nine grueling months training and advising Iraqi troops, under the command of Major General Gary Volesky.

Volesky says the 101st Airborne Division leaves the Middle East with no regrets.

"We said it was a marathon but we are going to sprint the whole way and they hit that tape sprinting so I couldn't be more proud of them," he said.

Their focus was on helping the Iraqis retake the key city of Mosul from Islamic State.

"The enablers we bring the fires and the advise assist and the training clearly are getting them where they need to be," said Volesky.

Much of the training from U.S. and coalition forces focused on Iraqi commanders.

"Leadership matters you can have the best unit, but if you don't have great leaders they won't be as effective," added Volesky.
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WSIL-TV 3 Southern Illinois

Soldier Wanted Help For PTSD, He Faced Being "Disciplined" Instead

A soldier battling PTSD reported that he wanted to hurt his commanders. They disciplined him.
The Baltimore Sun
Ian Duncan
November 1, 2016

Since returning from his second deployment to Afghanistan, Army Spc. Scott Miller had been through several stays at a mental health hospital. But after Christmas, the thoughts about taking his own life were joined by new ones about killing members of his unit.

Scott Miller suffered PTSD after serving with the Army in Afghanistan. When his symptoms got worse and he was having thoughts of killing people in his unit, he sought treatment but ended up being disciplined for making threats. (Family photo / HANDOUT)

Miller, a helicopter mechanic from Bowie, sought help in the emergency room at the hospital on his post at Fort Campbell, Ky. He says he revealed his murderous thoughts so that he could get the treatment he thought he needed.

He eventually was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. But his words triggered a criminal investigation and a lengthy disciplinary process that ended with him stripped of his rank on his way out of the service.

"I didn't threaten anybody directly," Miller said. "I was there to try and get help, and I was honest with the behavioral health provider. I know that I'm not going to get any better if I'm not honest with my feelings and thoughts."

Lt. Col. Jay Thoman, the Army lawyer who represented Miller in his disciplinary proceedings, said he was unable to find other cases in which hospital staff aided a criminal investigation, or a commander took disciplinary action over something a soldier said to a medical provider.
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Fort Campbell Soldier Killed in Tennessee

Sheriff: Disoriented soldier killed in Tennessee after walking into road
WKRN
Published: October 19, 2016

PLEASANT VIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) – A young soldier based out of Fort Campbell was killed after he was hit on a Pleasant View highway early Saturday morning.

Investigators say the accident happened around 4 a.m. when Austin McGrough walked into the middle of Highway 41A and was hit by a BMW driven by an 18-year-old girl.

Cheatham County Detective Jeff Landis said the young driver had no way to avoid the collision.

According to Det. Landis, McGrough had been snorting Percocet and drinking grain alcohol after having his wisdom teeth removed a few days prior.

He and four other soldiers reportedly left Fort Campbell on Friday and were staying at a home on Highway 41A.
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Fort Campbell Soldiers Charged With Selling Equipment on eBay?

Soldiers at Fort Campbell Army base allegedly sold military equipment to foreign nations on eBay
New York Daily News
Jason Silverstein
October 6, 2016

A soldier (not connected to the case) holds an M249 machine gun, one of the weapons whose parts were allegedly sold on eBay by soldiers from Fort Campbell.
(JULIE JACOBSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Soldiers at Fort Campbell sold more than $1 million worth of military gear and weapons parts to buyers worldwide through eBay, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.

The soldiers allegedly hawked parts of a grenade launcher and machine guns that were stolen from warehouses near the Army base in Clarksville, Tenn.

"These are extraordinarily and inherently dangerous in the wrong hands and outside of the military or police tactical use," U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee David Rivera said at a press conference.
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Fort Campbell Soldier Drowned After Baptism?

Fort Campbell Soldier Drowns
News Channel 5
Ben Hall
Sep 6, 2016

Ali died on that same day, in the same creek on Fort Campbell where he was baptized.

Fort Campbell, KY - The U.S. Army is still investigating the events that led to tragic drowning of a Fort Campbell soldier earlier this summer.

But NewsChannel 5 Investigates has new information about what Army Specialist Dhaifal Ali was doing at the creek the day he died.

Pictures posted on Facebook by a fellow soldier show he was at there to be baptized.

At some point after that ceremony, Ali was swept away in swift currents and drowned.

Rescue crews launched a comprehensive search and found Ali's body five days later.

The man who baptized Ali is not an army chaplin.

Staff Sergeant Marcus Rogers is a Fort Campbell soldier who believes the world is in its final days.

Rogers has more than 400,000 followers on Facebook who watch and comment on his self recorded mini-sermons.
read more here
Linked from Christian Post

Fort Campbell Solider On Leave Killed By 15 Year Old

Funeral honors Blount Co. soldier killed in Harriman
WBIR
Raishad Hardnett
September 03, 2016

On Saturday, family and friends honored the life of a Ft. Campbell soldier killed while on leave.

Authorities say a Harriman teenager shot and killed Blount County native MarStratton Gordon last Sunday. Police say an argument turned deadly after a 15-year-old fired a single shot at MarStratton.

The Army soldier was visiting his girlfriend in Harriman when the shooting happened.

On Saturday afternoon, relatives held Gordon’s funeral at Heritage High School, where he played football.

Relatives described Gordon as charismatic and outspoken, with a knack for making people laugh.
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101st Airborne Soldier in Custody After Opening Fire At Fort Campbell

UPDATE

Officials ID Soldier Accused Of Firing Shots At Ft. Campbell

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Officials have identified the soldier who allegedly fired shots at Fort Campbell.

The soldier was identified as 23-year old Spc. Bryan Castillo, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter repairer. He arrived at the post in September, 2013.

According to a release, Castillo allegedly entered Hangar 8 on the airfield at 11:30 a.m. Thursday and fired two shots.
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Soldier Arrested After Active Shooter Incident At Fort Campbell
News Channel 5
August 25, 2016

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A soldier with the 101st Airborne Division has been arrested after an active shooter incident occurred at Fort Campbell. No injuries were reported.

Authorities confirmed the incident happened Thursday afternoon. The post was placed on lockdown; however, the situation ended and the post was made secure.

Base officials said the shooter entered Hangar 8 on the airfield at around 11:30 a.m. and fired two shots.

Law enforcement was notified and immediately responded. Police chased the soldier after they fled the hangar in his personal vehicle.

During the chase, the soldier hit another vehicle, but then tried to get away on foot once the soldier got to his on-base residence.

That's when police took the soldier into custody. They also found additional weapons and ammunition.
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Fort Campbell Soldier Asked For PTSD Help, Got Busted in Rank

Fort Campbell Wife says Husband with PTSD got Demoted after Asking for Help
FOX 17 Nashville
By Sabrina Hall
JULY 11TH 2016

"It's not because the help is not there. It's that they are too afraid and this is why they're afraid because this is what's happening to people. They are getting in trouble for getting help." Felicia Miller

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- A wife of a Fort Campbell soldier is calling for change.

She says soldiers should be able to ask for help without getting in trouble. Her husband has PTSD and got demoted for having homicidal thoughts.

According to documents, the soldier went to the emergency room on post to get help and the doctor reported what he said to his superiors.

"The reduction in rank was immediate," Felicia Miller, the soldier's wife, said.

Documents show the hospital incident happened in late December and the demotion was finalized in early May

Miller says her husband was diagnosed with development PTSD after his first tour in Afghanistan in 2013. In December, she says, he started having homicidal and suicidal thoughts and she immediately took him to the hospital.
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Fallen Soldier's Dad Charged With Taking Donations Meant to Honor Son

Father charged with theft of donations for soldier's grave stone
Pickaway News Journal
Trish Bennett, Editor
Published: June 30, 2016

CIRCLEVILLE - The father of a local soldier killed in Afghanistan is facing charges in the theft of money intended to repair his son's grave stone at Forest Cemetery.

Roger D. Jenkins, 51, is pictured here in this file photo

from a ceremony held at his son's grave site in May of 2015.

Roger D. Jenkins, 51, of Stoutsville, pleaded not guilty to theft, a fourth-degree felony, on Wednesday in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court. He was indicted on the charge June 3 by the Pickaway County Grand Jury.

A pretrial hearing in the case is set for July 8.

According to the indictment, Jenkins is accused of using deception to take money in excess of $7,500 from 11 individuals and organizations between May 1 and June 9, 2015.

Prosecutors contend the money was donated to help repair the grave stone of Army Spc. Gerald R. "Bub" Jenkins that was damaged by vandalism in April of 2015. No charges have ever been filed in the vandalism case.

Gerald Jenkins, 19, was a combat engineer assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was killed Oct. 20, 2010, by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in the Maquan, Zhari district of Afghanistan.
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Fort Campbell Did Not Search For AWOL Suspected Rapist?

Suspected rapist goes AWOL, but Army doesn't search for him
Associated Press
By Richard Lardner
Published: March 21, 2016

Had anyone looked, Hazelbower may not have been hard to find. After fleeing Fort Campbell, he had gone home to Lanark, Ill., a small town two hours west of Chicago. Lanark Police Chief Matt Magill and other local law enforcement officials said they were never asked to search for him.

WASHINGTON — Army Pvt. Jameson T. Hazelbower went AWOL after learning he was suspected of raping a 15-year-old girl. Despite the potential threat to the public that he posed, the self-described sex addict roamed free for nearly three months before local police collared him in Winnebago, Ill., near where he grew up.

And that was only by chance, according to interviews, police reports and court-martial records obtained by The Associated Press.

An officer responded to a call late on a Friday night in March 2014 about a suspicious vehicle parked in a cul-de-sac outside an apartment complex. Hazelbower, his pants down to his knees, was in the car with a girl, barely 14. She was unharmed.

Hazelbower's case is a window into an obscure but significant aspect of the U.S. military's legal system. Deserters suspected of serious crimes are to be prioritized for capture based on the severity of the offenses. But the Army never searched for Hazelbower and the U.S. Marshals Service was not called in, even though marshals have arrested more than 200 deserters over the past five years alone.

In fact, there was a lack of urgency to locate Hazelbower despite strident warnings from his superiors at Fort Campbell, Ky., records show. The military's version of an arrest warrant described him as a "sexually violent predator" and a known drug abuser. Also, he had gone AWOL before. "CAUTION - ESCAPE RISK" is stamped in bold letters on the right side of the document. read more here

Fort Campbell Soldier Died After Wife Found Dead

UPDATE: Soldier did U-turn on Interstate before hitting semi
Leaf Chronicle
Stephanie Ingersoll
March 3, 2016

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Clarksville Police say an 18-year-old woman found dead near the state line Wednesday had been assaulted by her husband, who then drove the wrong way on Interstate 24 and died before colliding with a semi.

At about 9:26 a.m., Wednesday officers of the Clarksville Police Department were called for a welfare check at 160 State Line Road, Apartment 13. Arriving officers found 18-year-old Katelyn Thomas (Baldoni) dead inside the apartment.

Investigators say she had been assaulted by her 21-year-old husband, Deashawn Thomas, a soldier at Fort Campbell. Investigators did not say how she was assaulted or whether that led to her death.
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Linked from Lexington Herald Leader

Army Released Names of Aviators Killed in South Korea

Army releases names of aviators killed in South Korea crash
Army Times
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
December 6, 2015

The Army on Sunday night released the names of the two aviators killed when their AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed in South Korea.

The incident happened about 6:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 23 during a routine training mission. The helicopter crashed about 50 miles east of Camp Humphreys.

It would be the first of three deadly Army helicopter crashes in 10 days, prompting U.S. Army Forces Command to ground all of its aircraft for a safety stand down. The stand down began Thursday and will end Monday evening.

• Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jason McCormack, 43 from Maryland, Fort Campbell 101st

CW4 Jason McCormack (Photo: Army)

• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Smith, 38 from Colorado. Fort Carson

CW3 Brandon Smith (Photo: Army)

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Army helicopters at 11 U.S. Installations Grounded

Forces Command general orders Army helicopters at 11 U.S. installations grounded until Monday
FayObserver
By Drew Brooks Military editor
December 4, 2015

Army helicopters across 11 installations in the continental United States will be grounded until Monday under an order by Gen. Robert B. "Abe" Abrams on Thursday.

Abrams, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, directed a five-day "aviation safety stand down" in a letter to commanders, a FORSCOM spokesman said.

The stand down, which requires units to stop flying while safety procedures are reviewed, will end Monday evening.

FORSCOM leaders said the stand down is in response to two recent fatal accidents involving soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Four soldiers were killed in the Fort Hood crash of a UH-60 Black Hawk, which occurred on Nov. 23.

On Wednesday, two more soldiers were killed near Fort Campbell after an AH-64D Apache crashed during a routine training mission.
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