President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, pledged on Tuesday that he will “uphold the principle of civilian control of the military” if confirmed to the post. The vow comes as Austin must overcome objections from some lawmakers about allowing a recently retired general to assume the top civilian post at
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — A total of a dozen Army National Guard members have now been removed from the inauguration security mission after vetting found they had ties to far-right fringe groups, a U.S. official told ABC News Tuesday. “We don’t allow extremism of any type in our organization,” said Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the
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FORT BLISS, Texas — U.S. Army officials on Monday confirmed the weekend traffic deaths of two Fort Bliss soldiers in separate incidents on the streets of far east El Paso. The first fatality involved a non-commissioned officer assigned to the 1st Armored Division’s Artillery Brigade who died in a Saturday afternoon motorcycle crash. That crash
Continue ReadingWASHINGTON, DC — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event. The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have
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FORT BLISS, Texas — U.S. Army leaders at Fort Bliss said Sunday they were investigating the death of a non-commissioned officer, the second soldier to die unexpectedly on the post in recent weeks. Staff Sgt. John D.S. Bailey, 27, was pronounced dead by emergency services personnel on Thursday in his on-post residence, the Army said
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Dorothy “Dot” Cole was the oldest living US Marine veteran when she died on January 7. She was 107 years old. Cole, who was born in 1913 and grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania, suffered a heart attack in the home they shared in North Carolina, her daughter Beth Kluttz told CNN by phone Saturday Cole
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(Editor’s note: This report has been updated to reflect that the accused soldier is charged in three sexual assaults, only one of which is alleged to have involved the deceased.) FORT BLISS, Texas — An arraignment at Fort Bliss late Thursday afternoon officially launched the court-martial proceedings against an Army private first class accused of
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FORT BLISS, Texas — Despite more than 500 man hours devoted to search efforts over nearly six months, officials said Wednesday they still lacked answers in the disappearance of a Fort Bliss Army private and put out a new public call for leads to help locate him. Pvt. Richard Halliday, 21, was last seen on
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division is looking into the discovery of human remains, believed to more than a year old, on Fort Bliss property over the weekend. Officials in a statement on Monday said the “human skeletal partial remains were found on the Fort Bliss’ McGregor Range Complex during the early
Continue Reading UPDATE, Jan. 8: The commander of Fort Bliss announced Friday night that court-martial proceedings had been initiated against a fellow soldier for sex assault against a female soldier who died on New Year’s Eve in her barracks room. The cause of death of Asia Graham was still pending autopsy results at last word, but Army
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EL PASO, Texas – The El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System did its first Covid-19 vaccination on Thursday. Navy veteran Paul Garcia, a kidney transplant patient, became the first El Paso VA patient to receive the Moderna vaccine. Priority groups for the local VA include elderly veterans over the age of 90, organ transplant
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FORT BLISS, Texas – A Fort Bliss soldier was found dead while on holiday leave near San Antonio, officials said Thursday. Pfc. Nylyn O. Eady, 19, was found dead by emergency personnel in the city of Converse earlier this week. Converse is about 15 miles northeast from San Antonio. Authorities in the city of Converse
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WASHINGTON, DC — A woman who was shot in the chest and killed by law enforcement Wednesday during a violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters was apparently an Air Force veteran from California. Ashli Babbitt had served 14 years in the Air Force “and was a high level security official throughout her
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EL PASO, Texas — Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division has extended its public health emergency order for another 30 days to continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. That order comes from senior mission commander Maj. Gen. Sean Bernabe. Under the extension, a curfew for Fort Bliss will continue from 10 p.m. to
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The apparently unrelated deaths of two female Army soldiers in Texas are under investigation after officials said one died after being shot in her car on a freeway on New Year’s Day and the other was discovered dead in her military barracks on New Year’s Eve. The soldiers were identified as
Continue Reading UPDATE, Jan. 4: FORT BLISS, Texas — The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command said Monday that foul play is not suspected in the death of a female Army private first class whose lifeless body was found in her barracks room on New Year’s Eve. CID special agents probing 19-year-old Asia Graham’s death at Fort Bliss
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WASHINGTON, DC — Congress has overridden President Donald Trump’s veto of a defense policy bill, a first by lawmakers since he took office nearly four years ago. In an extraordinary New Year’s Day session, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate easily turned aside the veto. Lawmakers dismissed Trump’s objections to the $740 billion bill and handed the
Continue ReadingSAN ANTONIO, Texas — Two headstones inscribed with Nazi swastikas that mark the graves of German prisoners of war have been removed from a veteran’s cemetery in Texas. The headstones at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio feature an iron cross with a swastika at its center, along with an inscription in German
Continue ReadingA wildfire in northern San Diego County has grown by nearly 1,300 acres — burning a total of 4,276 acres — and prompted mandatory evacuations, according to a Cal Fire update Thursday night. Camp Pendleton issued a mandatory evacuation for DeLuz Housing, Wounded Warrior Battalion and Lake O’Neill Campground due to the fire near Naval
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill, following through on threats to veto a measure that has broad bipartisan support in Congress and potentially setting up the first override vote of his presidency. The bill affirms 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes more than $740 billion
Continue ReadingA soldier missing from Fort Drum in New York has been found dead and another service member is in custody, officials said. An investigation into the death of Cpl. Hayden Allen Harris is ongoing, the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Command said in a news release Sunday. Harris, 20, was last heard from between Thursday evening
Continue ReadingA soldier missing from Fort Drum in New York has been found dead, and foul play is suspected, the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Command said Sunday. An investigation into the death of Cpl. Hayden Allen Harris is ongoing, the Criminal Investigation Command said in a news release. Harris, 20, was last heard from between Thursday
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EL PASO, Texas — The Fort Bliss National Cemetery partnered with Wreaths Across America this past week to hold that traditional holiday wreath-laying ceremony, while also making several important changes this year to keep it a safe and socially distanced event. “The cemetery has done a great job in partnering with Wreaths Across America to
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FORT BLISS, Texas — The new commanding general at Fort Bliss has had to deal with significant issues in just his first 80 days as the highest ranking U.S. Army soldier on post. “Certainly I have a responsibility to protect our force here and to make sure we preserve our readiness despite the pandemic, but
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EL PASO, Texas – The roar of motorcycles could be heard making their way into the Ambrosio Guillen Veterans Home on Saturday as dozens of members of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association came to drop off some good cheer. “We just wanted to come out and give them some gifts and love and knock on
Continue ReadingThey soar into the desert skies, piloting some of the most sophisticated aircraft the world has ever seen. They have an innate understanding of high-performance aircraft and are always pushing the boundaries on performance. They are the small cadre of flight test pilots who graduate from the US Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) at
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When the Navy football team takes the field for its annual showdown with Army on Saturday afternoon, at least one Midshipman will have more than the Xs and Os of the playbook on his mind. Senior offensive tackle Billy Honaker will also be honoring the memory of his fallen friend and teammate David Forney. Forney
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Jeffery Michael Keene was a devoted husband, father and an Army combat veteran. He had served four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq during his 12 years of service. Despite being in the front lines of war, he would face his deadliest challenge at home. In the years since leaving the military, he and his wife,
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WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Senate on Friday approved a wide-ranging defense policy bill, sending it to President Donald Trump, despite his threat to veto the bill because it does not clamp down on big tech companies he claims were biased during the election. The final vote was 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in
Continue ReadingThe Supreme Court ruled 8-0 on Thursday that the military can prosecute at any time sexual assault cases committed between 1986 and 2006, overturning what had been a loophole of a five-year statute of limitations that existed for military sexual assault before 2006. The case centered on three men in the Air Force whose rape
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