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Congress will launch an investigation into sexual assault, disappearances, deaths and the leadership's response at Fort Hood after 28 soldiers stationed at the U.S. Army base in Texas died this year, two subcommittee leaders announced Tuesday. Democratic Reps. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Jackie Speier of California sent a letter to Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy requesting documents and information on the deaths. Lynch chairs the Committee on Oversight and Reform's Subcommittee on National Security, and Speier leads the Committee on Armed Services' Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

Fort Hood commander loses position following string of deadly incidents BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 09/01/20 05:40 PM EDT Fort Hood commander loses position following string of deadly incidents Army leadership on Tuesday removed the commander of Fort Hood from his role and barred him from a planned position at another Texas base following multiple high-profile deaths under his tenure. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who had been set to take over as commander for the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, will instead remain at Fort Hood to serve as deputy commanding general for support. “The Army will announce the name...

AUSTIN, Texas - The body of a missing soldier is believed to have been found about 30 miles from Fort Hood, the Army base in Texas where he was stationed, police said Tuesday. Identification found with the body in Temple, Texas, indicates the man may be missing Fort Hood soldier Sgt. Elder Fernandes, according to a statement from local police. Forensic confirmation is pending. Fernandes is the third soldier from Fort Hood to go missing in the past year, and two have been found dead this summer. Temple police received a medical call at 5:36 p.m. saying a male had...

A Fort Hood soldier who has been missing since Monday had been transferred to a different unit because he was the victim in an “abusive sexual contact” investigation, the Army said. Lt. Col. Chris Brautigam, a 1st Cavalry Division public affairs officer, told CNN in a statement that there is an “open investigation of abusive sexual contact” involving Sgt. Elder Fernandes and confirmed that Fernandes was the victim in the investigation. “The unit sexual assault response coordinator has been working closely with Sgt. Fernandes, ensuring he was aware of all his reporting, care, and victim advocacy options,” Brautigam said. “The...

A Texas soldier missing since April was killed by another soldier on the same military installation where they served, the lawyer for her family said Thursday. Spc. Vanessa Guillen was killed April 22, the day of her disappearance, by Spc. Aaron David Robinson inside an armory room where she was working on Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, attorney Natalie Khawam said during a news briefing. Khawam said she met with officials with the Army Criminal Investigation Command who provided her with the information, the Army Times reported. VANESSA GUILLEN'S BODY FOUND, FELLOW SOLDIER KILLED SELF, ANOTHER SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: FAMILY...

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed a junior soldier tied to the disappearance of Fort Hood solider Vanessa Guillen shot and killed himself as police moved in to make an arrest overnight. A civilian, who is the estranged wife of a former soldier, is also in custody, according to the Army. The attorney and family of Guillen said early Wednesday that a third suspect was also in custody, although officials have not confirmed this detail. Authorities have also not released any of the suspects' names. At Wednesday morning's emotional press conference in Washington, D.C., the Guillen family said,...

Human remains were found Tuesday during the search for a missing soldier stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, Army officials told CNN. Vanessa Guillen, 20, has been missing since April. She was last seen in the parking lot of her barracks at the post on April 22, according to the US Army Criminal Investigation Command. Investigators had "returned to an area of interest close to the Leon River, Bell County, Texas, for more investigative work" and discovered partial human remains, the Army CID said. Authorities said the identity of the remains have not been confirmed. The remains were found in...

Pvt. 1st Class Vanessa Guillen was last seen around 1 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment on Fort Hood. Her car keys, barracks room key, identification card and wallet were later found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day, according to the Fort Hood Press Center release. Guillen was described as of Hispanic descent, 5 feet, 2 inches tall, 126 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black T-shirt

After years of work, the Interstate 35 reconstruction project in Bell County is pretty much done, while a similar project to widen Interstate 14 still has years of work ahead. “Overall, the I-35 Reconstruction Project ... particularly in Waco, is continuing at an aggressive pace, well on track for a 2023 completion. Bell County work remains substantially complete with minor ‘punch list’ items such as completion of the Temple Welcome Monument and the standard establishment of vegetation along the corridor within the Temple/Troy area remaining, prior to final acceptance of the project,” Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Ken Roberts said...

Two mass shootings at U.S. military installations in one week, including one in which the perpetrator was a foreign national, have prompted questions over firearm use on American bases. .... To have two shootings clustered one after another on military bases is unusual. In the past two decades, there have only been about seven other active shootings on bases; the deadliest was a November 2009 shooting spree in Fort Hood, Texas, which killed 13 and injured 32. ... Government-issued firearms are locked in an arms room on base and only distributed when they are needed for training ,... This regulation...

Vice President Mike Pence deserves praise for not only remembering the national horror but also personally showing up and speaking out at Fort Hood, Texas, the scene of the Nov. 5, 2009, terrorist massacre that killed 13 American soldiers and citizens. It has been a decade since that terrorist attack on U.S. soil by a self-identified Islamic terrorist and American traitor. Ten years on and only a damnable trickle of mainstream media bother to reflect on this horror. In terms of mainstream printers, TV images and internet pixels, this savage outrage has been ... briefly mentioned, barely touched. For the...

Hasan has remained on death row for seven years and counting. Manning said he hopes "justice gets served" but realizes Hasan may never be executed. ... When it came to Hasan, Manning said, there was a double standard. Hasan wrote emails to radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki seeking advice on reconciling his Muslim faith with serving in the Army. This fact was known to the FBI. “You could lose your security clearance in the Army for having bad credit and be kicked out of the Army. But you can't lose your security clearance for talking to a member of Al...

Remarks by Vice President Pence to Service Members and Veterans at U.S. Army Fort Hood | Fort Hood, TX U.S. Army Fort Hood Fort Hood, Texas 10:27 A.M. CDT THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, Fort Hood! AUDIENCE: Hooah! (Applause.) THE VICE PRESIDENT: It is great to be back in Texas and it’s great to be at the Great Place. (Applause.) And thank you all. And especially to all of those troopers behind me: At ease. Congressman Carter, Congressman Williams, Deputy Secretary of the VA Jim Byrne, General Ken Kamper, General Jeff Broadwater, Command Sergeant Major Adam Nash, but especially to...

Dallas (WBAP/KLIF) – The crowd is already gathering outside the American Airlines Center for the Trump campaign rally tomorrow evening. Among those in the small crowd that is slowly building, this group of women talked to us about why they came out so early. “Mr Trump, President Trump. [What are some of the things that you support that he’s done?] Oooh so much, (the wall), the wall for sure… security … he brought faith back out in the community … all of the above and being able to say God again.” The women, mostly strangers before today are from Des...

In military death penalty cases, there are several mandatory appeal stages that could take up to 10 to 15 years. Author: Marcelino Benito Published: 10:03 PM CST January 31, 2019 Updated: 10:04 PM CST January 31, 2019 A KHOU 11 News viewer named Mike reached out with this question: "Has the Ft. Hood shooter been put to death, and if so why not?" Here's what we verified. Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood back in 2009. It is considered the worst mass murder at a military base in U.S history....

Just a reminder....Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan is scheduled to be executed on May 5th

Talks have been bubbling in recent months about making major route changes to Interstate 14, but the primary organization behind the push says it’s facing resistance from a West Texas representative and the state’s senior senator. Regional transportation lobby group Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance (MOTRAN) has pushed to change the congressionally approved western route of I-14, also known as the Forts to Ports Highway and the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway System. Forts to Ports aims to connect Fort Bliss in El Paso with Fort Hood in Central Texas and Fort Polk in Louisiana. The plan also connects to military deployment ports...

An All Souls Day Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated Wednesday on the Fort Hood Military base. The Mass was offered on the hood of a military humvee, the traditional way Mass is offered during time of battle. With some 60 people in attendance, the Mass was especially offered up for the fallen 1st Cavalry Division soldiers who died in the Battle of Unsanin during the Korean War on November 2, 1950. The Mass was held on the grounds of the 1st Cavalry Division Museum and was also in honor of Fr. Emile Kapaun, 1st Cavalry Division chaplain and Medal of...

The media have lost their minds after Trump's magnificent speech on Monday. It's all hands on deck, no attack is too extreme. Their main point is: DO NOT LOOK AT THAT SPEECH. It has "words that wound." Much too dangerous even to read it. Instead of reporting what Trump said, the media give us the "gist" of it (in the sense of an unrecognizable distortion). It was awful, Hitlerian, beneath our dignity as a nation. They lie about what he said and then attack their own lies as if they're attacking Trump. The Washington Post's headline, which got their reporters...

Fort Hood officials released the names of eight of the nine soldiers Saturday who were killed earlier this week in Texas after floodwaters overturned an Army tactical vehicle at a low-water crossing during a training exercise. Officials identified the soldiers as Staff Sgt. Miguel Angel Colonvazquez, 38, of Brooklyn, New York; Spc. Christine Faith Armstrong, 27, of Twentynine Palms, California; Pfc. Brandon Austin Banner, 22, of Milton, Florida; Pfc. Zachery Nathaniel Fuller, 23, of Palmetto, Florida; Pvt. Isaac Lee Deleon, 19, of San Angelo, Texas; Pvt. Eddy Raelaurin Gates, 20, of Dunn, North Carolina; Pvt. Tysheena Lynette James, 21, of...