Soldier Accused in Fatal Washington Festival Shooting Pleads Not Guilty
SEATTLE — A 26-year-old member of the U.S. military accused of fatally shooting two women and wounding three other people at a music festival at Washington state’s Gorge Amphitheatre has entered not guilty pleas to multiple charges. The Seattle Times reports James M. Kelly pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts […]
Soldier Crashed Helicopter Before Running to and Crashing a Second in 2022 Suicide, Investigators Find
An Army officer appears to have crashed one Black Hawk helicopter, then run to another that he subsequently crashed, triggering a large explosion and killing himself, according to the service’s investigation into a 2022 incident — parts of which were obtained by Military.com. Investigators ruled the death a suicide. Just before 2 a.m. on March […]
US Soldier Pleads Guilty to Helping ISIS Plan Ambush on American Troops Abroad and Target NYC
U.S. Army Private Cole Bridges attempted to help ISIS murder U.S. soldiers abroad — and offered advice on attacking New York City. “Cole Bridges attempted to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his fellow soldiers in service of ISIS and its violent ideology,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday. “Bridges’ traitorous conduct was a betrayal of his comrades and his country.” The 22-year-old former soldier from Ohio pleaded guilty Wednesday […]
Fort Jackson Soldier Who Went Missing During Training Died, Army Says
A soldier who went missing during a training exercise at Fort Jackson is dead, the U.S. Army said Wednesday. Staff Sgt. Jaime Contreras, 40, was found unresponsive at about 11:20 p.m. Monday, Army officials said at a news conference. The Army said it was not able to provide information about Contreras’ cause of death because it is still under investigation. Contreras’ family has […]
Soldier Killed in Alaska Base Collision Identified
The U.S. Army has identified the 11th Airborne Division soldier killed in a collision late Sunday on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska as Pfc. Arath Esau Martinez-Arguelles, 20, of Sherman Oaks, California. Martinez-Arguelles, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic with the 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), joined the Army in June 2022, Army […]
Is Soldier Recruiting Up? Army Claims Yes But Won’t Say by How Much
The Army is in a recruiting slump, struggling to pitch service to a skeptical Gen Z or even to find enough qualified candidates to join. But just how deep in the hole are the Army’s recruiting numbers? It won’t say. The service has declined to provide the basic recruiting data, despite Army Secretary Christine Wormuth […]
A Soldier Attempted Suicide in Poland. Left to Roam at Fort Riley, He Killed Himself.
Warning: This story includes discussion of suicidal ideation and details of a suicide attempt. It was a cold March day in Poland, and no one had seen Spc. Austin Valley in hours. Valley, 21, had sent his parents a suicide note. During a frantic search, soldiers followed footprints in the snow into the dark woods, […]
Soldier Who Sought Ethnic Cleansing in the US Pleads Guilty on Firearms Charges
A Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldier who plotted to commit mass murder against racial minorities pleaded guilty to weapons charges Wednesday and faces up to a decade in prison, according to the Department of Justice. Noah Anthony, 23, had a goal to “physically remove as many of [black and brown people] from Hoke, Cumberland, Robeson […]
For Soldier Killed in Alaska Crash, ‘Family Was Everything’
JUNEAU, Alaska — The mother of one of the three soldiers killed last week when two U.S. Army helicopters collided in a remote part of Alaska said her son loved his country and his family and lifted others up. “Family was everything to him,” Stacie Weaver told The Associated Press Monday of her son, Warrant […]