KEY POINTS

  • The Army has fired or suspended 14 officers and soldiers to combat a rash of fatalities at Fort Hood
  • Fort Hood has been under administrative scrutiny for a while, but this is the first major personnel action it's seen
  • Army policy was also clarified to ensure that soldiers who go missing are searched for rather than just branded absent without leave

Army officials have announced 14 firings and suspensions at Fort Hood following a rash of incidents that killed 25 soldiers. Also introduced were policies intended to reduce the delay between a person going missing and the start of an investigation, the Associated Press reported.

The move is one of the most drastic steps yet at Fort Hood, a military post in Killeen, Texas, where officials say “leadership failures” contributed to killings, sexual assault and crime. Previous inquiries had produced middling conclusions about the base’s culture, but the Army now seems to be directly addressing the personnel contributing to the problem.

“The tragic death of Vanessa Guillen, and a rash of other challenges at Fort Hood, forced us to take a critical look at our systems, our policies, and ourselves,” said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. “But without leadership, systems don’t matter. Leaders failed to effectively create a climate that treated all soldiers with dignity and respect."

Guillen was a 20-year-old soldier who in April was bludgeoned to death inside Fort Hood and not found until two months later. Her suspected killer, Aaron David Robinson, killed himself on July 1 as police tried to arrest him.

The murder of US Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen drew attention to the high rate of violent crime and sexual assault at Fort Hood, Texas
The murder of US Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen drew attention to the high rate of violent crime and sexual assault at Fort Hood, Texas GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Go Nakamura

Guillen’s family maintains she faced sexual harassment, although the Army has not found evidence of this. An investigation by CBS News found a widespread culture of fear and retaliation surrounding the Army’s skyrocketing sexual-assault numbers.

The Guillens’ attorney Natalie Khawam told the AP that Criminal Investigation Command officers at Fort Hood were among those fired or suspended and that the panel investigating the base found it was used as a training ground for rookie officers resulting in high turnover and inexperienced investigators. The panel also found little or no effort to dissuade drug use among Fort Hood’s ranks, the Guardian reports.

Many of those named in the firings were in charge during Guillen’s death, namely Army Maj. Gen. Scoot Efflandt, Col. Ralph OVerland and Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Knapp.

Maj. Gen. Jeffry Broadwater and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Kenny were suspended.

Further punishments are expected. The lower-ranking personnel fired or suspended were not named.

New protocol includes missing soldiers to be labeled “absent-unknown” for two days before they’re designated absent without leave. This would prompt soldiers to search for them rather than simply assuming they left of their own volition.

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