Army bringing more management to troubled JBLM
April 26, 2012
The U.S. Army announced plans Thursday to improve discipline at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an installation that has been linked to a string of recent violence.
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash.
The U.S. Army announced plans Thursday to improve discipline at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an installation that has been linked to a string of recent violence.
Army Secretary John McHugh said a layer of management will be added in a reorganization that will bring a new division headquarters to the troubled base.
McHugh said the move was largely in response to the massive growth Lewis-McChord has seen over the past decade. But he also acknowledged a recent string of high-profile cases and indicated that stronger oversight might have assisted in containing those issues.
read more here
Showing posts with label Fort Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fort Lewis. Show all posts
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
2 Joint Base Lewis-McChord to compete in Warrior Games
2 soldiers who overcame illness, injury will compete in Warrior Games
A year after he ended treatment for an acute form of cancer that should have killed him, Army Sgt. Fred Prince received more good news. He was one 50 soldiers selected to compete in a sporting event for ill and injured service members.
CHRISTIAN HILL; STAFF WRITER
Published: 04/24/12
A year after he ended treatment for an acute form of cancer that should have killed him, Army Sgt. Fred Prince received more good news. He was one 50 soldiers selected to compete in a sporting event for ill and injured service members.
Prince is one of two soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord invited to compete against athletes from other service branches at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The event begins Monday and runs through May 5.
Prince, 35, and Staff Sgt. Max Hasson, 42, will represent the base. Prince qualified in air rifle and archery. Hasson qualified for air rifle, handcycling and three swimming events.
The two are assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion at Lewis-McChord, where soldiers receive treatment for long-term injury or illness until they can rejoin their unit or be medically discharged.
read more here
A year after he ended treatment for an acute form of cancer that should have killed him, Army Sgt. Fred Prince received more good news. He was one 50 soldiers selected to compete in a sporting event for ill and injured service members.
CHRISTIAN HILL; STAFF WRITER
Published: 04/24/12
A year after he ended treatment for an acute form of cancer that should have killed him, Army Sgt. Fred Prince received more good news. He was one 50 soldiers selected to compete in a sporting event for ill and injured service members.
Prince is one of two soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord invited to compete against athletes from other service branches at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The event begins Monday and runs through May 5.
Prince, 35, and Staff Sgt. Max Hasson, 42, will represent the base. Prince qualified in air rifle and archery. Hasson qualified for air rifle, handcycling and three swimming events.
The two are assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion at Lewis-McChord, where soldiers receive treatment for long-term injury or illness until they can rejoin their unit or be medically discharged.
read more here
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Lewis-McChord soldiers being investigated after rocket launcher found off base
5 Lewis-McChord soldiers being investigated after rocket launcher found off base
By CHRISTIAN HILL
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: April 12, 2012
TACOMA, Wash. - Five Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers are reportedly under investigation for smuggling a rocket launcher off base last fall, but an Army spokesman said the weapon didn't belong to the base.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later confirmed the investigation and the number of soldiers to McClatchy Newspapers.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Lewis-McChord's chief spokesman said Army officials conducted an inventory of its M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon for the past five years after learning about the incident in September and it "revealed no discrepancies."
"We will not speculate on where the weapon came from; that is part of the (ATF's) ongoing investigation," read the statement from Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield.
read more here
By CHRISTIAN HILL
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: April 12, 2012
TACOMA, Wash. - Five Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers are reportedly under investigation for smuggling a rocket launcher off base last fall, but an Army spokesman said the weapon didn't belong to the base.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later confirmed the investigation and the number of soldiers to McClatchy Newspapers.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Lewis-McChord's chief spokesman said Army officials conducted an inventory of its M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon for the past five years after learning about the incident in September and it "revealed no discrepancies."
"We will not speculate on where the weapon came from; that is part of the (ATF's) ongoing investigation," read the statement from Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield.
read more here
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lewis-McChord medic tries to save insurgent in Afghanistan
Will this story get as much coverage as Staff Sgt. Bales?
Lewis-McChord soldiers in Afghanistan see sudden action
ADAM ASHTON
The (Tacoma) News Tribune
The insurgents didn’t have a chance. Helicopter surveillance spotted them moving to a weapons cache and preparing to bury a powerful homemade bomb. It weighed 45 pounds, and they took turns carrying it. From the air, Apache helicopters laced into the insurgents with automatic cannons. On the ground, an infantry platoon from Joint Base Lewis-McChord marched to find the explosive and complete the job.
The Stryker soldiers looked to have won the opening round in the Taliban’s annual spring offensive, and it was a fight the enemy picked. But they still had a long night ahead with unknown dangers in the dark. They had to find out whether the insurgents had laid other bombs before they’d been spotted. And they had to secure the weapons cache. “There’s still a mine out there,” said the mission planner, Capt. Brian Rieser of Lacey. Spc. Eric Pollack of Puyallup treaded lightly as the platoon approached the scene, looking for mines, sticking in tight single-file formation.
Pfc. Uriel Velazquez, a medic, made it to a wounded insurgent and tried to give aid, but the man was near death.
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Friday, March 23, 2012
15 soldiers learn results of PTSD re-evaluations
15 soldiers learn results of PTSD re-evaluations
The Army announced Wednesday that it has notified 15 soldiers of their behavioral health diagnoses amid an investigation into whether Madigan Army Medical Center’s forensic psychiatry unit wrongly changed post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 03/22/12
The Army announced Wednesday that it has notified 15 soldiers of their behavioral health diagnoses amid an investigation into whether Madigan Army Medical Center’s forensic psychiatry unit wrongly changed post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
In January, the Army opened an investigation into the Madigan evaluation team following complaints that it adjusted diagnoses in such a way that soldiers did not receive full disability benefits for PTSD. The Army is conducting at least three investigations into Madigan’s PTSD diagnoses.
Of the 1,500 soldiers who have been diagnosed at Madigan since 2007, 285 were invited to be re-evaluated.
read more here
The Army announced Wednesday that it has notified 15 soldiers of their behavioral health diagnoses amid an investigation into whether Madigan Army Medical Center’s forensic psychiatry unit wrongly changed post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 03/22/12
The Army announced Wednesday that it has notified 15 soldiers of their behavioral health diagnoses amid an investigation into whether Madigan Army Medical Center’s forensic psychiatry unit wrongly changed post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
In January, the Army opened an investigation into the Madigan evaluation team following complaints that it adjusted diagnoses in such a way that soldiers did not receive full disability benefits for PTSD. The Army is conducting at least three investigations into Madigan’s PTSD diagnoses.
Of the 1,500 soldiers who have been diagnosed at Madigan since 2007, 285 were invited to be re-evaluated.
read more here
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Military Wives Rally Around Wife of Accused Afghanistan Shooter Robert Bales
Military Wives Rally Around Wife of Accused Afghanistan Shooter Robert Bales
by Jesse Ellison Mar 22, 2012 5:43 AM EDT
Since the slaying of 16 Afghans allegedly by Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the ‘silent ranks’ of military wives are rallying around one of their own, recognizing they could easily have found themselves in Karilyn Bales’s shoes.
Most of us will, blessedly, never be in Karilyn Bales’s shoes. We will never know what it is like to discover that the person we married, the father of our two young children, has been accused of mass murder. Most of us wouldn’t even be able to begin to imagine how we might feel, or what we might do.
But most of us aren’t married to men in the military. Those who are—the more than one-million-strong ‘milspouses’ who make up the ‘silent ranks’ of the U.S. Armed Forces—can imagine it all too well. In the days after the news broke that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a 38-year-old father of two from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State, had allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, many veterans and service members hastened to distance themselves from the horrific act, rejecting the notion that PTSD or combat stress could be blamed for the soldier’s actions. But while the men scurried, the women rallied, taking to their blogs and social networks to voice their unconditional support for Bales’s wife, whom many even began to call ‘Kari.’
read more here
by Jesse Ellison Mar 22, 2012 5:43 AM EDT
Since the slaying of 16 Afghans allegedly by Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the ‘silent ranks’ of military wives are rallying around one of their own, recognizing they could easily have found themselves in Karilyn Bales’s shoes.
Most of us will, blessedly, never be in Karilyn Bales’s shoes. We will never know what it is like to discover that the person we married, the father of our two young children, has been accused of mass murder. Most of us wouldn’t even be able to begin to imagine how we might feel, or what we might do.
But most of us aren’t married to men in the military. Those who are—the more than one-million-strong ‘milspouses’ who make up the ‘silent ranks’ of the U.S. Armed Forces—can imagine it all too well. In the days after the news broke that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a 38-year-old father of two from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State, had allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, many veterans and service members hastened to distance themselves from the horrific act, rejecting the notion that PTSD or combat stress could be blamed for the soldier’s actions. But while the men scurried, the women rallied, taking to their blogs and social networks to voice their unconditional support for Bales’s wife, whom many even began to call ‘Kari.’
read more here
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
40% of PTSD cases at Madigan were reversed
40% of PTSD cases at Madigan were reversed
A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
The statistics were compiled as part of an ongoing Army Medical Command investigation into the screening team's practices. The team has been suspended from PTSD evaluations, and the Army Medical Command is offering new evaluations to patients whose diagnoses were reversed.
Citing a need to "protect the integrity of the process" during ongoing investigations, the Western Regional Medical Command, in a statement released to The Seattle Times, declined to comment on the statistics released by Murray.
The investigation was triggered, in part, by soldiers who were concerned by the decision to take away their PTSD diagnoses and, in some cases, tag them as possible malingerers.
Originally diagnosed by other Army or Department of Veterans Affairs doctors, some had been receiving extensive treatment for months or years when the screening team evaluated them.
A PTSD diagnosis can qualify a soldier for the considerable financial benefits of a medical retirement. Those include a pension, health insurance for spouse and dependents and commissary privileges.
read more here
A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
The statistics were compiled as part of an ongoing Army Medical Command investigation into the screening team's practices. The team has been suspended from PTSD evaluations, and the Army Medical Command is offering new evaluations to patients whose diagnoses were reversed.
Citing a need to "protect the integrity of the process" during ongoing investigations, the Western Regional Medical Command, in a statement released to The Seattle Times, declined to comment on the statistics released by Murray.
The investigation was triggered, in part, by soldiers who were concerned by the decision to take away their PTSD diagnoses and, in some cases, tag them as possible malingerers.
Originally diagnosed by other Army or Department of Veterans Affairs doctors, some had been receiving extensive treatment for months or years when the screening team evaluated them.
A PTSD diagnosis can qualify a soldier for the considerable financial benefits of a medical retirement. Those include a pension, health insurance for spouse and dependents and commissary privileges.
read more here
Monday, March 19, 2012
Stryker vets disagree on role of multiple deployments in massacre
Stryker vets disagree on role of multiple deployments in massacre
Two former Stryker soldiers who both developed PTSD disagree on the significance of multiple combat deployments in Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' alleged massacre of Afghan civilians. But both reject the idea that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a rogue base that breeds troubled soldiers.
By Lewis Kamb
News Tribune
Two former Stryker soldiers who've gone on multiple combat deployments and dealt with the trauma that can follow them offer divergent perspectives about whether such experiences could have played a role in Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' alleged massacre of Afghan civilians.
"It's not shocking to me," said Kevin Baker, a former staff sergeant with Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers who are screaming for help, but they aren't getting it. And this was what, his fourth deployment? That's pretty ridiculous."
But Joshua Renschler, a retired sergeant with Lewis-McChord's 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, sees it differently: "These were planned, coldblooded, clear-cut killings."
"I don't see it as just being a culmination of military-related events that took place, and he just snapped and did it," said Renschler, who belonged to the same brigade as Bales. "I'm sorry, but this is not to be blamed on multiple deployments or (post-traumatic stress disorder) and (traumatic brain injury)."
read more here
Two former Stryker soldiers who both developed PTSD disagree on the significance of multiple combat deployments in Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' alleged massacre of Afghan civilians. But both reject the idea that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a rogue base that breeds troubled soldiers.
By Lewis Kamb
News Tribune
Two former Stryker soldiers who've gone on multiple combat deployments and dealt with the trauma that can follow them offer divergent perspectives about whether such experiences could have played a role in Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' alleged massacre of Afghan civilians.
"It's not shocking to me," said Kevin Baker, a former staff sergeant with Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers who are screaming for help, but they aren't getting it. And this was what, his fourth deployment? That's pretty ridiculous."
But Joshua Renschler, a retired sergeant with Lewis-McChord's 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, sees it differently: "These were planned, coldblooded, clear-cut killings."
"I don't see it as just being a culmination of military-related events that took place, and he just snapped and did it," said Renschler, who belonged to the same brigade as Bales. "I'm sorry, but this is not to be blamed on multiple deployments or (post-traumatic stress disorder) and (traumatic brain injury)."
read more here
Bales' military town knows stress of multiple tours
Bales' military town knows stress of multiple tours
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
No one here knows what might have happened to Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in Afghanistan, but most in this military town do know about the stress of multiple tours in war zones.
"I hear that in World War II they only did 11-month tours of duty and then they rotated out," says Fred LaMotte, 63, who teaches soldiers at Central Texas College.
"That's nothing compared to what these people are doing. Four tours of duty. That erodes the soul. For most soldiers, it's just too much," he says. "Imagine coming home from Iraq and hardly being able to breathe for a few months and then you're sent back?"
read more here
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
No one here knows what might have happened to Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in Afghanistan, but most in this military town do know about the stress of multiple tours in war zones.
"I hear that in World War II they only did 11-month tours of duty and then they rotated out," says Fred LaMotte, 63, who teaches soldiers at Central Texas College.
"That's nothing compared to what these people are doing. Four tours of duty. That erodes the soul. For most soldiers, it's just too much," he says. "Imagine coming home from Iraq and hardly being able to breathe for a few months and then you're sent back?"
read more here
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Is there something wrong with Joint Base Lewis-McChord?
Is there something wrong with Joint Base Lewis-McChord?
Actually, yes but there is something wrong with the military as a whole. After tracking these reports across the country, there has been something seriously wrong, a multitude of excuses, too many claims of changing and not enough real change that proves they understand any of this. All we've seen are more reports on things going wrong.
One month of "good reports" on military suicides usually has mention of an increase in attempted suicides in the same article. The next month, the "suspected suicides" turns out to be deemed military suicides and then we know the startling truth. After all these years, the military still doesn't get it. They just keep producing the same failed programs, pulling stunts like redeploying men and women clearly in need of help with a bunch of pills. They continue to redeploy men and women over and over again when the Army released a study years ago clearly stating redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50% but then scratch their heads wondering why so many need help to heal.
Lewis-McChord has problems but so does the military as a whole. Lewis-McChord just managed to have the most reports coming out about it so far.
Afghan shooting suspect called to duty again and again
By Peter Henderson and Bill Rigby
TACOMA, Washington
Sun Mar 18, 2012
(Reuters) - Robert Bales built a life around a call to arms. A call that emanated from the ashes of the World Trade Center in New York and took him to the mayhem of faraway Iraq and Afghanistan. A call he may have heard one time too many.
The 38-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant suspected of gunning down 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, had struggled to make financial ends meet and was disappointed at being sent back into a war zone for a fourth time rather than an easier posting in Germany or Hawaii.
Bales was a high school football star from Ohio who enlisted in the Army after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. He married Karilyn Primeau in 2005 and soon they moved into a four-bedroom house near a clear Seattle lake. The couple had two children, but Bales was absent for three tours in Iraq, where he was commended for valor. His wife, a public relations executive, blogged enthusiastically about their life.
Today, his family has the lake house on the market for less than they paid for it and a second home, with a mortgage larger than its market value, has been abandoned for two years, a red notice from the city warning it is uninhabitable.
read more here
Actually, yes but there is something wrong with the military as a whole. After tracking these reports across the country, there has been something seriously wrong, a multitude of excuses, too many claims of changing and not enough real change that proves they understand any of this. All we've seen are more reports on things going wrong.
One month of "good reports" on military suicides usually has mention of an increase in attempted suicides in the same article. The next month, the "suspected suicides" turns out to be deemed military suicides and then we know the startling truth. After all these years, the military still doesn't get it. They just keep producing the same failed programs, pulling stunts like redeploying men and women clearly in need of help with a bunch of pills. They continue to redeploy men and women over and over again when the Army released a study years ago clearly stating redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50% but then scratch their heads wondering why so many need help to heal.
Lewis-McChord has problems but so does the military as a whole. Lewis-McChord just managed to have the most reports coming out about it so far.
Is Lewis-McChord really 'most troubled base in the military'?
BY CHRISTIAN HILL AND ADAM ASHTON
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
TACOMA, Wash. — Is there something wrong with Joint Base Lewis-McChord?
The question attracted wide media attention last week after a soldier stationed there for the last decade, 38-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 38, allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, in a March 11 rampage. Reports have surfaced that trauma and stress from multiple combat tours, possibly mixed with alcohol, might have sent the married father of two over the edge.
Some connected the massacre to other problems at the base south of Tacoma, Wash.: a record number of suicides, several investigations into the treatment of soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, a "kill team" convicted of murdering civilians for sport in Afghanistan and a string of other crimes involving present and past soldiers.
They resurrected a label given by the military newspaper Stars and Stripes in 2010: the "most troubled base in the military."
Gen. David Rodriguez, the head of U.S. Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., called the headlines "unfortunate" and said the entire Army faces challenges sending soldiers on multiple combat deployments.
read more here
Afghan shooting suspect called to duty again and again
By Peter Henderson and Bill Rigby
TACOMA, Washington
Sun Mar 18, 2012
(Reuters) - Robert Bales built a life around a call to arms. A call that emanated from the ashes of the World Trade Center in New York and took him to the mayhem of faraway Iraq and Afghanistan. A call he may have heard one time too many.
The 38-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant suspected of gunning down 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, had struggled to make financial ends meet and was disappointed at being sent back into a war zone for a fourth time rather than an easier posting in Germany or Hawaii.
Bales was a high school football star from Ohio who enlisted in the Army after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. He married Karilyn Primeau in 2005 and soon they moved into a four-bedroom house near a clear Seattle lake. The couple had two children, but Bales was absent for three tours in Iraq, where he was commended for valor. His wife, a public relations executive, blogged enthusiastically about their life.
Today, his family has the lake house on the market for less than they paid for it and a second home, with a mortgage larger than its market value, has been abandoned for two years, a red notice from the city warning it is uninhabitable.
read more here
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Fort Lewis O-5 charged with felony harassment
Lewis O-5 charged with felony harassment
By Manuel Valdes and Shannon Dininny - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 14, 2012 8:39:13 EDT
TACOMA, Wash. — A 20-year Army officer in Washington state threatened to blow up the state Capitol building and kill his superior officer, his estranged wife and his girlfriend, authorities said Tuesday. The case added scrutiny to the troubled base of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree.
Lt. Col. Robert E. Underwood, who was arrested Monday night and pleaded not guilty to felony harassment charges, told his girlfriend he'd paid a hit man $150,000 to kill both his wife and superior officer, according to court documents.
Underwood threatened to kill the girlfriend after she confronted him about a naked photograph of his daughter on his laptop computer, the documents said. And he reportedly threatened to blow up the state Capitol building in Olympia, Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, although no charges have been filed on those accusations.
"We charged him with three counts of felony harassment. That's what the evidence supports, that's what we can prove," he said. "But it's an ongoing investigation."
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a sprawling base south of Seattle, is already under scrutiny this week because a soldier based there has been held in Afghanistan following the massacre that left 16 Afghan civilians dead in two villages.
read more here
By Manuel Valdes and Shannon Dininny - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 14, 2012 8:39:13 EDT
TACOMA, Wash. — A 20-year Army officer in Washington state threatened to blow up the state Capitol building and kill his superior officer, his estranged wife and his girlfriend, authorities said Tuesday. The case added scrutiny to the troubled base of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree.
Lt. Col. Robert E. Underwood, who was arrested Monday night and pleaded not guilty to felony harassment charges, told his girlfriend he'd paid a hit man $150,000 to kill both his wife and superior officer, according to court documents.
Underwood threatened to kill the girlfriend after she confronted him about a naked photograph of his daughter on his laptop computer, the documents said. And he reportedly threatened to blow up the state Capitol building in Olympia, Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, although no charges have been filed on those accusations.
"We charged him with three counts of felony harassment. That's what the evidence supports, that's what we can prove," he said. "But it's an ongoing investigation."
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a sprawling base south of Seattle, is already under scrutiny this week because a soldier based there has been held in Afghanistan following the massacre that left 16 Afghan civilians dead in two villages.
read more here
Still no details about JBLM soldier accused in Afghanistan slayings
Still no details about JBLM soldier accused in Afghanistan slayings
Days after the slayings in Afghanistan, the military has kept under wraps one of the most salient details — the name of the sergeant.
March 15, 2012
By Seattle Times news services
The Joint Base Lewis-McChord sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers was flown to Kuwait from Afghanistan on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.
New evidence emerged to support the case that the sergeant acted alone, but days after the slayings, the military has kept under wraps one of the most salient details — his name.
It also is not clear where he will be held or tried, and nothing has been disclosed about his state of mind or any possible reason for his actions.
Already, details of the sergeant's identity and background and particulars of the judicial process he faces have been withheld longer than might be routine.
Military officials said it was military policy not to release the name until charges are filed. But military experts said this case seems unusual.
Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said it was unusual for the sergeant's identity to be concealed for so long, adding, "It's very strange."
Among the reasons for initially withholding the sergeant's identity, Fidell said, may have been that the military wanted to protect his family from possible reprisal.
read more here
Days after the slayings in Afghanistan, the military has kept under wraps one of the most salient details — the name of the sergeant.
March 15, 2012
By Seattle Times news services
The Joint Base Lewis-McChord sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers was flown to Kuwait from Afghanistan on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.
New evidence emerged to support the case that the sergeant acted alone, but days after the slayings, the military has kept under wraps one of the most salient details — his name.
It also is not clear where he will be held or tried, and nothing has been disclosed about his state of mind or any possible reason for his actions.
Already, details of the sergeant's identity and background and particulars of the judicial process he faces have been withheld longer than might be routine.
Military officials said it was military policy not to release the name until charges are filed. But military experts said this case seems unusual.
Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said it was unusual for the sergeant's identity to be concealed for so long, adding, "It's very strange."
Among the reasons for initially withholding the sergeant's identity, Fidell said, may have been that the military wanted to protect his family from possible reprisal.
read more here
JBLM soldiers urged to stay focused on mission
JBLM soldiers urged to stay focused on mission
by MEG COYLE / KING 5 News
Posted on March 14, 2012
TACOMA, Wash. -- Soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan now face retaliatory attacks. But they also face other pressures that could undermine the mission.
With all the negative news out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord lately including the recent massacre of Afghan civilians, the PTSD controversy, the officer and alleged death threats, it's easy to lose sight of the ongoing fight.
"It just astounds me...how they're talking about this installation," said retired Army Colonel Mike Courts.
Col. Courts was the first infantry division's chief of staff out of JBLM. A highly decorated career military man who was twice deployed to Iraq. So he has a very real understanding of a day in the life of a solider.
read more here
by MEG COYLE / KING 5 News
Posted on March 14, 2012
TACOMA, Wash. -- Soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan now face retaliatory attacks. But they also face other pressures that could undermine the mission.
With all the negative news out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord lately including the recent massacre of Afghan civilians, the PTSD controversy, the officer and alleged death threats, it's easy to lose sight of the ongoing fight.
"It just astounds me...how they're talking about this installation," said retired Army Colonel Mike Courts.
Col. Courts was the first infantry division's chief of staff out of JBLM. A highly decorated career military man who was twice deployed to Iraq. So he has a very real understanding of a day in the life of a solider.
read more here
U.S. troops numb, uncertain after Afghan massacre
Peter Henderson and Bill Rigby
Reuters
March 15, 2012
LAKEWOOD, Washington (Reuters) - Around the home base of the American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians there is a sense of dedication to a tough job, but stress from years of battle in repeated tours in the "sand box" of Iraq and Afghanistan is eating away at troops.
"A lot of the guys, especially those with a lot of deployments, have built up a numbness to people being killed or hurt," said one veteran of six tours abroad, including Iraq and Afghanistan, describing his own reaction to the weekend shooting. "The people who hate us are going to put a bad spin on us no matter what we do."
The 33-year-old sergeant says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. He asked not to be identified, since the base has told soldiers not to speak with media.
"These things happen," Vietnam veteran John Haddick, an elder at Lake City Community Church in Lakewood, Washington, said of the weekend killings in Afghanistan.
"It's not going to change individuals that much, this one incident, or their attitude to deployment. They understand it's a hazardous place," said Haddick, who speaks to many serving soldiers and veterans in his role at the church, a 10 minute drive from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and helps them overcome their ordeal.
read more here
Reuters
March 15, 2012
LAKEWOOD, Washington (Reuters) - Around the home base of the American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians there is a sense of dedication to a tough job, but stress from years of battle in repeated tours in the "sand box" of Iraq and Afghanistan is eating away at troops.
"A lot of the guys, especially those with a lot of deployments, have built up a numbness to people being killed or hurt," said one veteran of six tours abroad, including Iraq and Afghanistan, describing his own reaction to the weekend shooting. "The people who hate us are going to put a bad spin on us no matter what we do."
The 33-year-old sergeant says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. He asked not to be identified, since the base has told soldiers not to speak with media.
"These things happen," Vietnam veteran John Haddick, an elder at Lake City Community Church in Lakewood, Washington, said of the weekend killings in Afghanistan.
"It's not going to change individuals that much, this one incident, or their attitude to deployment. They understand it's a hazardous place," said Haddick, who speaks to many serving soldiers and veterans in his role at the church, a 10 minute drive from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and helps them overcome their ordeal.
read more here
Veterans say war mismanagement may have contributed to Afghanistan soldier’s rage
Veterans say war mismanagement may have contributed to Afghanistan soldier’s rage
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Citizen Warrior by Tiffany Madison
DALLAS, March 14th, 2012 – In southern Afghanistan, an Army Staff Sergeant on his fourth deployment left his base in the middle of the night to execute 16 Afghani civilians while they slept.
As the media analyzes the story and politicians apologize, the military community is reeling. This soldier, whose name has not yet been released, takes primary blame for the atrocity while many point their fingers secondly at Washington.
Most understand the war is won by “hearts and minds,” and are grieved, angered and disappointed in this soldier’s actions. Soldiers and concerned citizens fear the damage may be irreversible and are quick to remind onlookers that he doesn’t reflect the Army mentality. “He should’ve thought of the team and not his own sick path of revenge,” posted Mike Matthews on a U.S. Infantryman Facebook page. “This was one man acting alone. We are better than this and we are not homicidal maniacs. I hope he gets the death penalty.”
Many agreed with Matthews, pointing out that this lone shooter blackens the efforts of the 90,000 troops and Marines still in-country, many of which are building successful relationships with the Afghans. This angers civilians, too, particularly those who have a loved-one deployed and fear retribution and more violence.
Nearly everyone agrees the soldier is primarily responsible for his actions, but across social networks - peppered between rants, condolences, and questions – many combat veterans are also laying blame at Washington’s feet.
read more here
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Citizen Warrior by Tiffany Madison
DALLAS, March 14th, 2012 – In southern Afghanistan, an Army Staff Sergeant on his fourth deployment left his base in the middle of the night to execute 16 Afghani civilians while they slept.
As the media analyzes the story and politicians apologize, the military community is reeling. This soldier, whose name has not yet been released, takes primary blame for the atrocity while many point their fingers secondly at Washington.
Most understand the war is won by “hearts and minds,” and are grieved, angered and disappointed in this soldier’s actions. Soldiers and concerned citizens fear the damage may be irreversible and are quick to remind onlookers that he doesn’t reflect the Army mentality. “He should’ve thought of the team and not his own sick path of revenge,” posted Mike Matthews on a U.S. Infantryman Facebook page. “This was one man acting alone. We are better than this and we are not homicidal maniacs. I hope he gets the death penalty.”
Many agreed with Matthews, pointing out that this lone shooter blackens the efforts of the 90,000 troops and Marines still in-country, many of which are building successful relationships with the Afghans. This angers civilians, too, particularly those who have a loved-one deployed and fear retribution and more violence.
Nearly everyone agrees the soldier is primarily responsible for his actions, but across social networks - peppered between rants, condolences, and questions – many combat veterans are also laying blame at Washington’s feet.
read more here
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A 20-year Army officer at Lewis-McChord detained in bomb threat
Soldier at Lewis-McChord detained in bomb threat
(CBS/AP) TACOMA, Wash. - A 20-year Army officer in Washington state threatened to blow up the state Capitol and kill his superior officer, his estranged wife and his girlfriend, authorities said Tuesday, adding scrutiny to the troubled base of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree.
Lt. Col Robert Underwood allegedly told his daughter "he was going to do something crazy and it would be on the news, the world would know about it," according to court documents (PDF).
Underwood was arrested Monday night and pleaded not guilty to felony harassment charges.
Prosecutors allege he told his girlfriend he'd paid a hit man $150,000 to kill both his wife and superior officer. Underwood is allegedly in the middle of a nasty divorce and custody battle.
A federal official tells CBS News that federal charges against Underwood are not expected.
Authorities believe the suspect "has some issues" and the threats he allegedly made were made in offhand remarks to various family members and associates. There is no evidence at the moment that the soldier had the wherewithal to carry out any kind of attack.
read more here
(CBS/AP) TACOMA, Wash. - A 20-year Army officer in Washington state threatened to blow up the state Capitol and kill his superior officer, his estranged wife and his girlfriend, authorities said Tuesday, adding scrutiny to the troubled base of a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree.
Lt. Col Robert Underwood allegedly told his daughter "he was going to do something crazy and it would be on the news, the world would know about it," according to court documents (PDF).
Underwood was arrested Monday night and pleaded not guilty to felony harassment charges.
Prosecutors allege he told his girlfriend he'd paid a hit man $150,000 to kill both his wife and superior officer. Underwood is allegedly in the middle of a nasty divorce and custody battle.
A federal official tells CBS News that federal charges against Underwood are not expected.
Authorities believe the suspect "has some issues" and the threats he allegedly made were made in offhand remarks to various family members and associates. There is no evidence at the moment that the soldier had the wherewithal to carry out any kind of attack.
read more here
Afghan Shooter's U.S. Base, Mental Health Treatment
Afghan Shooter's U.S. Base, Mental Health Treatment
Mar. 14, 2012 - March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Courts, a retired U.S. army colonel who served at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, talks about the base's Madigan Army Medical Center and mental health-care treatment for service members and veterans. Lewis-McChord was the home base of a U.S. Army staff sergeant who is accused of killing at least 16 civilians in Afghanistan villages. Courts, who is now a city council member in nearby DuPont, Washington, spoke with Bloomberg's Alison Vekshin and Britton Staniar yesterday. (Source: Bloomberg)
Fort Lewis Army private found stabbed in Washington
Army private found stabbed in Washington was stationed at troubled base, Fort Lewis
Young soldier and father of 3 found dead in Olympia apartment last week
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 13, 2012,
An Army soldier from the same Washington State base as the deranged sergeant accused of slaughtering villagers in Afghanistan was stabbed to death last week at an apartment in Olympia, authorities said.
The brutal slaying, in which one of the suspects said he stabbed the soldier so viciously that the blade broke off in the victim's body, was another black mark for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the troubled facility outside Tacoma that has been plagued by violence and suicide.
The victim, Pvt. Nathaniel Ollis, 29, served in Afghanistan and in Sept. 2009 survived an IED attack on his Stryker vehicle that killed three of his friends, The Olympian newspaper reported.
read more here
Young soldier and father of 3 found dead in Olympia apartment last week
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 13, 2012,
An Army soldier from the same Washington State base as the deranged sergeant accused of slaughtering villagers in Afghanistan was stabbed to death last week at an apartment in Olympia, authorities said.
The brutal slaying, in which one of the suspects said he stabbed the soldier so viciously that the blade broke off in the victim's body, was another black mark for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the troubled facility outside Tacoma that has been plagued by violence and suicide.
The victim, Pvt. Nathaniel Ollis, 29, served in Afghanistan and in Sept. 2009 survived an IED attack on his Stryker vehicle that killed three of his friends, The Olympian newspaper reported.
read more here
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Joint Base Lewis-McChord on edge following Afghan shooting spree
UPDATE
Lawmakers press Pentagon on massacre suspect's brain injury
By Sharon Begley and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON
Tue Mar 13, 2012
(Reuters) - A congressman asked the Pentagon on Tuesday to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after earlier suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, as lawmakers questioned how seriously the military deals with the mental health of troops.
The Army staff sergeant accused in Sunday's shooting served three deployments to Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan last year. The soldier, whose name has not been disclosed publicly, was treated for a traumatic brain injury suffered in a vehicle rollover in 2010 in Iraq, according to a U.S. official.
Representative Bill Pascrell, founder of a U.S. congressional task force on brain injuries, wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting details of the accused soldier's injury, diagnosis, and when and how he was returned to combat duty.
"I am trying to find out basically whether there was a premature 'OK' on this guy," Pascrell, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview.
read more here
Lawmakers press Pentagon on massacre suspect's brain injury
By Sharon Begley and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON
Tue Mar 13, 2012
(Reuters) - A congressman asked the Pentagon on Tuesday to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after earlier suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq, as lawmakers questioned how seriously the military deals with the mental health of troops.
The Army staff sergeant accused in Sunday's shooting served three deployments to Iraq before he was sent to Afghanistan last year. The soldier, whose name has not been disclosed publicly, was treated for a traumatic brain injury suffered in a vehicle rollover in 2010 in Iraq, according to a U.S. official.
Representative Bill Pascrell, founder of a U.S. congressional task force on brain injuries, wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting details of the accused soldier's injury, diagnosis, and when and how he was returned to combat duty.
"I am trying to find out basically whether there was a premature 'OK' on this guy," Pascrell, a Democrat, said in a telephone interview.
read more here
Joint Base Lewis-McChord on edge following Afghan shooting spree
By SANDI DOUGHTON
The Seattle Times
Published: March 13, 2012
SEATTLE — The mood at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was uneasy Monday, as news vans gathered at the main gate and journalists outnumbered customers in some shops in the wake of a shooting spree by a base Army staff sergeant that left 16 Afghan civilians dead.
Many uniformed personnel shrugged off questions about the shootings in Afghanistan. Those who discussed it said they fear the consequences for their fellow troops in-country.
“I’m worried another war might break out,” said Specialist Eric Windley, of Connecticut. “They are going to retaliate.”
A single soldier’s pointless actions are likely to undo years of effort to build trust between the United States and Afghanistan, he said.
While nothing can justify the murder of civilians, many soldiers who have been through multiple deployments will have seen some of their friends killed in action, said Specialist Joe Neumeyer, of Oklahoma, who spent a year in Iraq. The military’s rules of engagement also can be frustrating to soldiers, who are often not allowed to shoot until someone shoots at them, he said. “But no matter what, what he did was really, really wrong.”
Windley said his unit’s leaders always encourage troubled soldiers to speak up. “It’s very easy to get help.”
But Jorge Gonzalez, a former member of the Third Stryker Brigade and an Iraq veteran, said it can be almost impossible to ask for help while on deployment. Gonzalez, 32, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after he returned home. He now runs Coffee Strong, a nonprofit Internet cafe near the base whose motto is “Pro-GI; Anti-War.” Paintings on the walls depict soldiers brandishing guitars instead of rifles and lobbing steaming mugs of joe in place of grenades.
read more here
G.I.'s plea: Give troops with PTSD more help
G.I.'s plea: Give troops with PTSD more help
By Ben Tracy
March 13, 2012 9:02 AM
(CBS NEWS) JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - The American soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians served three tours of duty in Iraq before serving in Afghanistan.
Some experts say U.S. troops are being stretched too thin - and it's having an effect.
The suspect in the rampage in Afghanistan was stationed here until a few months ago.
We talked to an active duty soldier here who says he worries that our military men and women are being stretched to their breaking points.
"It will get better and it will get easier, but you won't ever forget faces and things you saw; it becomes part of you," says Specialist Jared Enger.
He should be in Afghanistan right now, fighting alongside the very soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians.
"He's in the same brigade I'm in," Enger notes. "He's in a unit I've done work with, so it's very well someone I could have crossed paths with and done some training with."
Enger spent two tours in Iraq - nearly 27 months of combat - during which he saw one of his best friends die right in front of him.
Like hundreds of others here at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Enger was diagnosed with chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
read more here
By Ben Tracy
March 13, 2012 9:02 AM
(CBS NEWS) JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - The American soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians served three tours of duty in Iraq before serving in Afghanistan.
Some experts say U.S. troops are being stretched too thin - and it's having an effect.
The suspect in the rampage in Afghanistan was stationed here until a few months ago.
We talked to an active duty soldier here who says he worries that our military men and women are being stretched to their breaking points.
"It will get better and it will get easier, but you won't ever forget faces and things you saw; it becomes part of you," says Specialist Jared Enger.
He should be in Afghanistan right now, fighting alongside the very soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians.
"He's in the same brigade I'm in," Enger notes. "He's in a unit I've done work with, so it's very well someone I could have crossed paths with and done some training with."
Enger spent two tours in Iraq - nearly 27 months of combat - during which he saw one of his best friends die right in front of him.
Like hundreds of others here at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Enger was diagnosed with chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
read more here
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