ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former Air Force intelligence analyst has been sentenced to 45 months in prison for leaking top secret information about the U.S. government’s drone strike program to a journalist. Daniel Hale of Nashville, Tennessee, has said he was motivated by guilt when he disclosed to an investigative reporter details of a
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UPDATE, July 26: Investigators on Monday identified two Fort Bliss soldiers as the pair of 26-year-olds involved in a weekend parking lot shooting that followed a fight on the patio at the Draft House Bar on George Dieter in east El Paso. El Paso police said the victim, 26–year-old U.S. Army Sgt. Marcus Joseph Slaton,
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will require many of its front-line health workers to be vaccinated, a senior administration official said Monday, making the agency the first area of the federal government to require shots among some of its workers. It was a major step from the administration toward backing vaccine requirements, which
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EL PASO, Texas — The first day of school, Aug. 2, is right around the corner and one Borderland group is leading the charge in ensuring students are set for success this coming school year. The Armed Services YMCA started with just 20 backpacks 10 years ago. The goal this year is 500 backpacks. “It’s not
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EL PASO, Texas — The El Paso Veterans Administration Medical Center main facility was evacuated late Tuesday afternoon due to a bomb threat, officials confirmed to ABC-7. A “Code Black” was declared at the VA location at 5001 N. Piedras Street about 3:30 p.m., meaning there was an immediate threat that required the building to
Continue ReadingBy Barbara Starr and Ellie Kaufman, CNN A woman qualified to become a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command crew for the first time in the organization’s history, according to a press release from the US Navy Thursday. The woman will go on to become an operator on one of the Navy’s special boat
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — The top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, was so shaken that then-President Donald Trump and his allies might attempt a coup or take other dangerous or illegal measures after the November election that Milley and other top officials informally planned for different ways to stop Trump, according
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FORT HOOD, Texas — A woman accused of helping Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen’s suspected killer dismember and dispose of Guillen’s body last year has been indicted by a grand jury. Cecily Ann Aguilar was indicted Tuesday on 11 federal charges including accessory after the fact, destruction of records in a federal case, conspiracy to tamper
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden says the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on Aug. 31. He says “speed is safety” as the United States seeks to end the nearly 20-year war. Biden spoke Thursday to update his administration’s ongoing efforts to wind down the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He said: “We did
Continue ReadingBy Kevin Liptak, CNN President Joe Biden delivered a vehement defense Thursday of his decision to end the war in Afghanistan, insisting no amount of sustained American presence there could resolve the country’s own intractable problems. Instead, Biden argued American resources — lives, money and attention — were better focused elsewhere. Pressed on the likelihood
Continue ReadingKABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. officials say the U.S. military has left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years. The facility was the epicenter of the war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. Two officials say the airfield was handed over to the Afghan
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WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. officials will close four emergency facilities set up to house record numbers of migrant children crossing the Mexican border alone but cautioned that minors were still arriving. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will shut two facilities in Texas and two at convention centers in California by early August, Aurora Miranda-Maese, juvenile coordinator
Continue ReadingTAOS, New Mexico — Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday. He was 88. In a statement Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s family said he “was surrounded by family in his beloved
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EL PASO, Texas — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited El Paso on Monday to see a migrant detention facility at the Fort Bliss military post which has drawn criticism from advocates who have described unsafe conditions and allegations of abuse toward some of the children housed there. Becerra, in a call
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President Joe Biden directed military forces to conduct defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region on June 27, according to a news release from the Department of Defense. CNN’s Barbara Starr and Arwa Damon report.
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EL PASO, Texas — Officials held a news conference Monday morning to offer a first look at the new William Beaumont Army Medical Center, which is slated to open July 11 after years of construction and several setbacks. (You can watch the entire news conference in the video player at the bottom of this article.)
Continue ReadingWASINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes Sunday evening on Iran-backed militias near the Iraq-Syria border in response to unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. “At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region,”
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that about 650 U.S. troops are expected to be kept in Afghanistan to provide security for the American diplomatic presence after the Pentagon completes its military withdrawal, which is set to be largely done in the next two weeks. Several hundred additional American forces, however, will
Continue Reading By Rose Montanez, KVIA ABC-7 EL PASO, Texas — El Pasoans Fighting Hunger is now collecting donations that will benefit the migrant children housed at Fort Bliss. The food bank is calling for the community to donate specific items including Spanish language books, board games, arts and crafts supplies, as well as sports equipment and
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FORT BLISS, Texas – For the second time in seven months, a female U.S. Army soldier assigned to the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss has died after being found unresponsive in her barracks room on post. ABC-7 has learned the two deceased female soldiers had been engaged to be married. Officials on Thursday identified
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WASHINGTON, DC — A year after U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén’s death in Texas, which spurred a movement against sexual assault and harassment in the military, federal lawmakers on Wednesday morning renewed efforts to reform — and add external accountability to — the way the military deals with such behavior. RELATED STORY: Defense secretary backs
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WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, for the first time, said Tuesday he will support long-debated changes to the military justice system that would remove decisions on prosecuting sexual assault cases from military commanders. In a statement, obtained by The Associated Press, Austin said he supports taking those sexual assault and related crimes
Continue ReadingORLANDO, Florida — Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough is moving to make gender confirmation surgery available to transgender veterans through Veterans Affairs health care coverage, according to a VA department spokesperson. McDonough was to announce the move at a Pride event at the Orlando Vet Center in Florida later on Saturday, according to the spokesperson.
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FORT BLISS, Texas — A Fort Bliss solider was found guilty at a court martial on Friday afternoon of sexually assaulting another soldier who was found dead in her barracks late last year. Pfc. Christian Alvarado was then sentenced to 18 years and three months in a military prison and afterwards, he will be dishonorably
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WASHINGTON, DC — Female soldiers at two Army bases in Texas face a greater risk of sexual assault and harassment than those at other posts, according to a new Rand Corp. study. The study, released Friday, looked at Army incidents, and found that active-duty Army women at Fort Hood and Fort Bliss faced the highest
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The Armed Forces Medical Examiner has determined the death of a female Army private first class, whose lifeless body was found in her Fort Bliss barracks room on New Year’s Eve, was the result of a drug overdose. U.S. Army officials at Fort Bliss released a summary of the medical examiner’s autopsy
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Here’s a look at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Facts Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, contains the remains of more than 400,000 people from the United States and 11 other countries, buried there since the 1860s. More than three million people visit the cemetery annually. The Arlington estate was originally owned by George Washington
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FORT HOOD, Texas — Two Fort Hood active-duty soldiers have been charged with attempting to smuggle two undocumented Mexican citizens into Texas and could face up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Emmanuel Oppongagyare and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie were both wearing their full
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WASHINGTON, DC — An Associated Press investigation has found that at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms were lost or stolen over the last decade. These weapons are intended for war — but some have ended up on America’s streets. Army pistols, for example, were used in violent crimes including shootings and robbery. Pistols, machine guns
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The U.S. Army is celebrating an important day on June 14th– their 246th birthday, and Fort Bliss’ 1st Armored Division celebrated the special occasion Monday afternoon with soldiers and their families. The theme for this year’s birthday celebration was ‘Honoring the Courage of the American Soldier.’ “Want to remind the El
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