AT: Army to fire, suspend officers and enlisted soldiers over violence at Fort Hood

[China]

Army to fire, suspend officers and enlisted soldiers over violence at Fort Hood

 

U.S. Army leaders are expected to fire or suspend a “significant number” of officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in a dramatic purge to correct a command culture they believe failed to address leadership failures and a pattern of violence that included murders, sexual assaults and suicides, U.S. officials said Monday.

 

According to officials familiar with the matter, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy will take administrative action that will remove soldiers from their jobs, and likely trigger investigations that could lead to a wide range of punishments. Those punishments could go from a simple letter of reprimand to a military discharge. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss results of an internal review not yet made public.

 

McCarthy and other senior Army leaders are expected to announce the results of the review on Tuesday. In recent months, they have questioned whether there is a toxic environment at the base, and pledged to hold leaders accountable.

 

Officials say they expect that Army Lt. Gen. Pat White, the base commander, will not face any administrative action. He was deployed to Iraq as the commander there for much of the year. Others who could face discipline, however, include Army Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who was left in charge of the base earlier this year when Spc. Vanessa Guillen went missing and was found slain two months later.

 

Army leaders have already delayed Efflandt’s planned transfer to Fort Bliss, where he was slated to take over leadership of the 1st Armored Division. Command of a division is a key step in an Army officer’s career.

 

Efflandt’s move was paused while the team of independent investigators conducted their probe into whether leadership failures contributed to the killings of several people, including Guillen, and who should be held accountable.

 

In a recent video message on Twitter, McCarthy said he had reviewed the findings of the independent commission he sent to assess the command climate at Fort Hood. He added, “Leaders, regardless of rank, are accountable for what happens in their units and must have the courage to speak up and intervene when they recognize actions that bring harm to our soldiers and to the integrity of our institution.”

 

According to investigators, Guillen, 20, was bludgeoned to death at Fort Hood by Spc. Aaron Robinson, who killed himself on July 1 as police were trying to take him into custody. Guillen was missing for more than two months before her remains were found. Her family has said Robinson sexually harassed her, though the Army has said there is no evidence supporting that claim.

 

The body of Pvt. Mejhor Morta was found in July near a reservoir by the base. In June, officials discovered the remains of another missing soldier, Gregory Morales, about 10 miles from that lake. All together, so far this year, 25 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died due to suicide, homicide or accidents, compared with 32 last year and 24 in 2018.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

[Destino]

Suddenly announcing that soldiers of every rank are in legal jeopardy doesn’t sound like the standard response to a culture problem.  Bodies popping up buried left and right and now a major house cleaning... that sounds like an organized crime and corruption problem.  Wouldn’t be surprised if there was news, probably not national news, recently of prostitution and drug trafficking rings in fort hood.  
 

Turning the culture around sounds better though.  

[Mr. Sinister]

25 murders.  WTF

[Captain Wiggles]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

25 murders.  WTF

 

Down from 32 last year tho. 😐

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

8 hours ago, Mr. Sinister said:

25 murders.  WTF

Not exactly.

Quote

All together, so far this year, 25 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died due to suicide, homicide or accidents, 

 

[tshile]

Those numbers seem insane to me but this is all news to me and I don’t know what a “normal” number for a base is and why that’s considered normal.... but those numbers seem insane to me. 
 

81 people dying at a base over 3 years in the states? I understand training accidents happen but outside of that, that number seems super high. But again, this is all news to me....

Edited December 9, 2020 by tshile

[DCSaints_fan]

8 hours ago, tshile said:

Those numbers seem insane to me but this is all news to me and I don’t know what a “normal” number for a base is and why that’s considered normal.... but those numbers seem insane to me. 
 

81 people dying at a base over 3 years in the states? I understand training accidents happen but outside of that, that number seems super high. But again, this is all news to me....

 

According to Wikipedia there are about 33k people on base at Fort Hood.   Of course some people may live off base.   Also not sure if the 25 incidents were all on base.    The statistics I've seen for suicide rate in the US is about 10 per 100k, and homicides about 5 per 100k in Texas.  Not sure about accidental deaths, but 25 homcides+suicides+accidental deaths does seem high for 33k population in a year, maybe 2-3x what you would expect. 

Edited December 9, 2020 by DCSaints_fan

[PleaseBlitz]

This appears to be an update.  The Army found that "a  toxic culture was allowed to harden and set” and a bunch of people were suspended or relieved of command.  

 

https://www.kwtx.com/2020/12/08/army-to-fire-or-suspend-significant-number-of-fort-hood-officers-soldiers-over-violence-on-post/

 

It may very well be a case of bad things getting the attention and good things flying under the radar, but the military seems to be having a lot of issues the past few years.  

 

 

[China]

Doesn't look like they fixed the problem at Fort Hood:

 

Fort Hood soldier who reported sexual assault is found dead three years after Vanessa Guillen death

 

The US Army is investigating the death of a 21-year-old combat engineer at the base in Fort Hood, Texas.

 

Private Ana Basalduaruiz was found dead on Monday after having served in her division for 15 months. She told her mother last month that she had been sexually assaulted by a someone with higher rank and her family had told her they could pick her up from the base, the family told ABC News.

 

Noticias Telemundo reported that in addition to being harassed by a higher-ranking soldier, she had told her mother, Alejandra Ruiz Zarco, that she had also been harassed by others while serving.

 

The death is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division as well as the chain of command, Fort Hood told the outlet.

 

Fort Hood said in a short press release on Wednesday that no foul play “is evident”.

 

The news of the death of Pvt Basalduaruiz comes after the murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén at Fort Hood following allegations that she had been sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier, who died by suicide as he was being chased by police. Spc Guillén was 20 years old when she was killed on 22 April 2020.

 

A report released almost a year after her death confirmed that she had been sexually harassed.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LadySkinsFan]

Misogyny crimes including murder are unacceptable. Also unacceptable are the enlisted personnel and officers who participated in Jan6. And the white supremists need to be cleaned out of our armed forces