FORT BLISS, Texas — Paramedics were called regularly to treat children suffering from panic attacks so severe their hands would constrict into balls and their bodies would shake. The outbursts often occurred after other children were taken away to be reunited with families, dashing the hopes of those left behind at the largest emergency shelter
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HOUSTON, Texas — Vanessa Guillen will forever be 20 years old, engaged but will never be married. She was murdered, inside one of the Army’s largest military installations. Later, the world learned that she had told her mother she was sexually harassed on the base. In the last year, her name has become a rallying
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Officials at Texas’ Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland gave the “all clear” and lifted a lockdown Wednesday afternoon, hours after an “active shooter” report resulted in base personnel being told to take cover. Authorities with JBSA-Lackland told ABC affiliate KSAT that the two people off-base reportedly fired a couple of shots near
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One of the US Marine Corps’ senior leaders won’t return to his previous role as Inspector General of the Marines after additional disciplinary action was taken against him for his role in an amphibious vehicle training accident last July off the coast of southern California that left nine people dead. Major General Robert F. Castellvi,
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The Border Network for Human Rights called for the release of unaccompanied minors at the migrant facility inside Fort Bliss during a protest and vigil on Tuesday. It comes after BNHR says over 20 former employees at the facility talked about the conditions at Fort Bliss for the minors. BNHR says
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ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico — New Mexico is several months into an investigation to determine the extent of contamination at two U.S. Air Force bases, and state officials said Friday that the work is on track to be completed by summer 2022. Environment Secretary James Kenney said his department has reviewed data, drafted analysis and sampling plans, and
Continue Reading FORT BLISS, Texas — A group of disgruntled employees working at the Fort Bliss shelter for migrant children, gave ABC-7 some insight Wednesday regarding what they said are unsanitary conditions inside the shelter. Among the issues: Lice, scabies and accusations that unaccompanied migrant children inside the facility were forced to eat raw chicken. Those claims
Continue ReadingThe US Army said Wednesday that it will not investigate former Gen. Michael Flynn for statements he recently made in which he appeared to endorse a Myanmar-style coup occurring in the US. “We are aware of the statements LTG (R) Flynn made May 30 and June 1. The Army is not investigating these statements further
Continue ReadingARLINGTON, Virginia — President Joe Biden honored those who died serving in the military in Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. “Remember their sacrifice, their valor and their grace,” Biden said. “Remember their smiles, their loves, their laughter, their essential vibrant and transcendent humanity.” The President said: “We must honor their sacrifice
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We are here to make sure you don’t embarrass yourself. Inevitably, someone says something demonstrating confusion over the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Allow us to explain it to you. Memorial Day: Celebrated the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is the holiday set aside to pay tribute to those who died serving
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada — A pilot died after Nellis Air Force Base officials said an aircraft operated by a military contractor crashed in a nearby residential area in Las Vegas. A base spokesman confirmed the crash happened about 2:30 p.m. Monday just outside the southern edge of the base, shortly after the plane took off.
Continue ReadingFORT BLISS, Texas — The shelter at Fort Bliss feels more like a warehouse, according to people who have been there, with rows and rows of bunk cots stacked on top of each other, filling up large white tents where hundreds of migrant children wait. Now, officials are talking about doubling that population — from
Continue ReadingThe Navy became the first branch in the US military to issue service-wide incentives for sailors to get vaccinated against Covid-19, including increased freedom of movement at port calls and the ending of pre-deployment quarantine for those who have been vaccinated. The updated guidance, issued Monday afternoon, stresses the safety of the vaccines and their
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EL PASO, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a retired federal law enforcement officer from El Paso who was put in a chokehold and wrestled to the ground at a VA hospital security checkpoint. (You can watch the incident in the video player above.) The justices did not comment
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EL PASO, Texas — U.S. Army Spc. Alec McGee is taking life lessons from his childhood to shape his roles as a professional boxer, solider, and father. McGee’s parents were both drug addicts. His father went to prison and McGee even spent some time in foster care. But the hardships he faced as a youth
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — Ralph Puckett Jr. — a United States Army Ranger who led the defense against six Chinese assaults on a frozen hill in the Korean War — was presented with America’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor, by President Joe Biden on Friday. Biden said that Puckett’s initial reaction to receiving the
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EL PASO, Texas — The family of a military veteran who was crushed to death by a car outside a south-central El Paso bar while reportedly trying to shield his wife from being run over is speaking out about what police are calling his “intentional” death. “You were my Batman,” says the sister of 33-year-old
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FORT BLISS, Texas — After years of construction and several set backs, the new William Beaumont Army Medical Center campus is set to open this summer on July 11. The hospital told ABC-7 inpatients will be moved from the current hospital – also known as the legacy hospital – to the new 1.3 million sq.
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El Paso, Texas– Since 2011 the nonprofit “Carry the Load” has been spreading its mission across the country with a 15,000-mile national relay to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day. “I started off at the fire station and now I’m on my way to ‘Up and Running’ which is another mile and a half
Continue ReadingAt least three Army bases are now offering incentives for soldiers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, including additional days off, gym access and reduced movement restrictions. Near Seattle, Joint Base Lewis-McChord announced in a memo obtained by CNN on Thursday that there will be “up to four hour periods each day during which Welfare/Recreation activities
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WASHINGTON, DC — A bill named after U.S. Army specialist Vanessa Guillen, who was murdered at Texas’ Fort Hood Army base last year, was reintroduced Thursday in Congress. Guillen, 20, was allegedly killed by another soldier at the Killeen base on April 22, 2020. Her family says she told them she’d been sexually harassed by a sergeant months before her death.
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The oldest armored unit in the United States Army celebrated their 10th year to the day of arriving at Fort Bliss on Thursday. The First Armored Division, or “Old Ironsides” as it is commonly known, was stationed in Ansbach, Germany before the Base Realignment and Closure commission (BRAC) moved the unit
Continue ReadingFORT BLISS, Texas — A Fort Bliss soldier has been convicted in a court-martial for a laundry list of offenses, including murder and assault, the U.S. Army announced Tuesday. Pfc. Luis Morales-Sanchez, 24, was convicted Monday by a military judge and sentenced to nearly 41 years confinement. He was also ordered to be dishonorably discharged
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WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. officials say the Army plans to put a civilian in charge of the command that conducts criminal investigations, in response to widespread criticism that the unit is understaffed, overwhelmed and filled with inexperienced investigators. The decision, expected to be announced Thursday, reflects recommendations made by an independent commission in the wake
Continue ReadingFREEPORT, Texas — Family members of the missing 22-year-old airman found his body Tuesday morning off the Texas Coast, according to the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office. Elijah Posana, 22, was swimming approximately 100 feet from shore at Surfside Beach near Freeport, Texas, Sunday when an individual saw him pulled away by a rip current, according
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EL PASO, Texas — The owner of a west El Paso bar and restaurant contends police are wrong in their report of a 50-person brawl with shots fired that took place in his parking lot on Sunday night. And Justin Kaufman says the man arrested by police – who was later ordered released by a
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FREEPORT, Texas — The search for a missing Air Force member who was last seen swimming near Freeport on Sunday has been suspended by the U.S. Coast Guard. Elijah Posana, 22, was swimming approximately 100 feet from shore at Surfside Beach when an individual saw him pulled away by a rip current, according to a
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — The nation’s top general says he is now open to considering a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of military commanders. This is a potentially significant shift in the debate over combating sexual assault in the military. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Continue Reading FORT HOOD, Texas — A long-awaited U.S. Army investigation released Friday has determined that murdered Spc. Vanessa Guillen was sexually harassed by a supervisor, as her family had claimed, and that the leaders in her unit at Fort Hood did not take appropriate action after she stepped forward. Twenty-one soldiers have been reprimanded or disciplined as a
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WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Defense Department is canceling all contracts for wall construction on the U.S.-Mexico border that used funds originally intended for military missions and functions, the department announced Friday, a significant action after the Trump administration dipped into Pentagon funds to build additional border barriers. In one of his first actions in
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