| | Army-wide probe of vets 'involved in violent crimes' mulled
 On a senator's request, the secretary of the Army is considering widening a probe into veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed violent crimes, according to an article in Friday's edition of The New York Times.
Reporting on an "Army installation in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains [that' became a busy way station for soldiers cycling in and out of Iraq," Lizette Alvarez and Dan Frosch write "that the number of servicemen implicated in violent crimes has raised alarm."
The article continues, "Nine current or former members of Fort Carson’s Fourth Brigade Combat Team have killed someone or were charged with killings in the last three years after returning from Iraq. Five of the slayings took place last year alone. In addition, charges of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault have risen sharply."
"Prodded by Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, the base commander began an investigation of the soldiers accused of homicide," the Times reports. "An Army task force is reviewing their recruitment, medical and service records, as well as their personal histories, to determine if the military could have done something to prevent the violence. The inquiry was recently expanded to include other serious violent crimes."
Salazar's October 17 letter asked for the Army to "conduct a swift and thorough review of the service records of soldiers who have been involved in violent crimes since returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In the Army’s effort to meet its target recruiting numbers, the service has been issuing an increasing number of waivers to recruits who may not meet educational or moral standards. Were any of the soldiers involved in these violent incidents at Fort Carson granted any such waivers, including felony criminal waivers, serious misdemeanor criminal waivers, or medical waivers related to mental health? Furthermore, I request information on how many of those soldiers had been flagged for 'irregularities' or further mental health counseling prior to their crimes, and how the Army responded."
In Geren's first response to Salazar on the subject (pdf link), the Army secretary wrote, "I agree that these tragedies are deeply troubling and I am giving this manner my personal attention."
Then Salazar wrote back on December 8th to argue that the "review should not be limited to Fort Carson. To understand any patterns linking the actions of a few individual soldiers, the Army should examine similar cases at installations across the country in a thorough, case-by-case, service-wide review."
Friday's Times reports, "Now the secretary of the Army, Pete Geren, says he is considering conducting an Army-wide review of all soldiers 'involved in violent crimes since returning' from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a letter sent to Mr. Salazar in December. Mr. Geren wrote that the Fort Carson task force had yet to find a specific factor underlying the killings, but that the inquiry was continuing."
"Focusing attention on soldiers charged with killings is a shift for the military, which since the start of the war in Iraq has largely deflected any suggestion that combat could be a factor in violent behavior among some returning service members," Alvarez and Frosch note.
FULL TIMES ARTICLE AT THIS LINK
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