Fort Hood Searchers Find Dead Soldier

Austin Statesman American ^ | 13 June 2007 | Michelle Roberts

[Racehorse]

Searchers found the body late Tuesday of a sergeant who was missing for four days after he disappeared during a training exercise, an Army spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Lawrence G. Sprader, 25, went missing Friday during a solo exercise testing basic map-reading and navigation skills.

Col. Diane Battaglia, III Corps spokeswoman at Fort Hood, said the body was found on the rugged Central Texas Army post. The body had been sent for an autopsy and the cause of death had not been determined, she said.

Sprader was one of nearly 320 noncommissioned officers being trained as part of a two-week leadership course.

He wasn't the only soldier who got lost during the three-hour exercise, but nine others who were disoriented got back to the rally point safely by following the sound of a siren that blasts when time is up, Battaglia said.

Reached on his cell phone two hours after the exercise was over, Sprader told commanders he wanted to finish the drill.

[Racehorse]

So sad and unnecessary. Got to admire his spirit though.

Salute!

[SoldierMedic]

Command decision should have been to make him come in. Welfare of the soldier trumps ego.

[DrewsMum]

somethin’s fishy here....

[MacDorcha]

Thats wha the sound blasts were for. Either he was already dead then, or he was to far disoriented to be able to use the sound.

Dehydration comes to mind.

[Steve Van Doorn]

I agree... they had him on the cell phone.

[SoldierMedic]

The sounder was suppose to be used to let everybody know the excersise had ended. The article says they contacted him 2 hours after the training was over, meaning to me two hours after the horn sounded.

If he was severely dehydrated during that phone call, it would have been obvious. And if he wasn't dehydrated at that point, the commanbder should have inquired as to how much water the Sgt still had. This could totally have been avoided.

[DrewsMum]

I agree... they had him on the cell phone.

Or at least they said they did. If they did, then why didn’t they stay in touch??? And couldn’t he have called for help later?? Frankly I think this smells like somebody demanded too much or was too hard on him, he died, and they are covering their butts.

I am surprised we don’t hear of crap like this more often, they way the training is sometimes....

[DrewsMum]

Like I said.....fishy.....

[DrewsMum]

Wierd that they say they talked to him and WANTED to keep going. THAT sounds like covering one’s behind (”Well, he wanted to keep going!!!)

[familyop]

I did land nav. many times and can’t relate to the story at all (see my tag line).

[sure_fine]

I’d still wait for report

a fall in rugged landscape can seperate equipment from carrier, and rattlesnake hit anywhere above the waist leaves only a few hours for help

[SoldierMedic]

Same here. I fortunately got Land Nav training in the Boy Schouts (By my old man, a guy with a Ranger tab), and personally led my group at BCT to all of our navigation check points. This guy is a SGT, so this shouldn’t have been his first lesson on a compass.

[elder5]

I’m thinking this is PLDC. (Primary leadership development course)When I went through it there were a few E-5 that didn’t know one end of a compass from the other. Not a knock on the SGT., but he might had been ADMIN and never been in the field before. Prayers for him and his family.

[taxcontrol]

When I was going through, only combat arms received real land nav in basic. Most others only received basic map reading skills. This means that many folks did in fact receive their first land nav course during PLDC (Primary Leadership Development Course).

However, our land nav courses were laid out in a double hex or double octagon pattern. This allowed for a whole series of paths to be constructed through the course .... and it allowed the course to be “bounded” by natural barriers such as rivers, roads buildings. Each person was briefed as to those natural boundaries and what to do upon reaching one of the edges of the exercise area.

Further, each troop was given a whistle to blow 3 times in the event of an emergency and trainers were posted in and around the training area. Like this exercise, horns were blown to indicate the end of the exercise (or flares for night land nav). Soldiers were instructed to walk to the sound of the horns which were blown every two min.

While we had soldiers fail and some wander off the training area, we never lost one.

[PeteB570]

Dehydration?

That was my first thought also.

Sad and such a waste.

[RaceBannon]

I don’t get why they didn’t send someone in to find him earlier than Sundown. Plus, if he had a cellphone, he would have known his position somewhat, he would have been told to stay put somewhere near a recognizable object.

Some serious failures in command here, I say.

Some serious failure by the Sgt, too, and it cost him his life.

Must be some pretty flat terrain, also, to lack so many features that he could at least guess his location from.

[SoldierMedic]

According to the ArmyTimes, the area is pretty hilly, but there was reports of him being seen from a road. There should have been no problem finding him, just tell him to wait by the side of the road till help arrived.

[wolfcreek]

I grew up next to Ft Hood. Pretty rough territory with lots of hills, gullies, small streams. Rocky terrain but, with lots of trees.

Very hot and humid this time of year, making it very possible he was dehydrated to the point he did something unwise. Without proper conditioning and lots of water, he wouldn’t last long.

Did anyone catch where he was from?

[MacDorcha]

What do you suppose then?

Foul play is possible. Snake/insect bite. Is it possible he was bitten and didnt realize it?

Allergies, falling, asthma attack... suicide?

[corlorde]

This sounds more like a Pre-Ranger course, of which many installations run their own. PLDC is normally four weeks (I was a SGLI at the USARAK PLDC) and this article says two week leadership course. Also, I wonder why they didn’t have a panic azimuth.