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U.S. soldier kills 5 fellow troops at Baghdad base

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U.S. soldier kills 5 fellow troops at Baghdad base
Updated Mon. May. 11 2009 10:39 AM ET

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military says five American soldiers have been killed in a shooting at a U.S. base in Baghdad.

A Pentagon official says a U.S. soldier killed five fellow troops at the base.

The military said in a statement that the shooting occurred about 2 p.m. Monday at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport.

No further details were released.


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090511/baghdad_shooting_090511/20090511?hub=TopStories
 
Lovely, I can imagine how certain groups are going to spin this. My heart goes out to the fallen soldiers.
 
Interesting...  I read this in the UK press earlier this morning.
Also interesting to note the change made to the AP article on CTV.

Five U.S. soldiers killed in shooting at Baghdad base
Updated Mon. May. 11 2009 11:14 AM ET
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- Five U.S. soldiers were killed Monday in a shooting at an American base in Baghdad, the U.S. command said.

A brief U.S. statement said the shooting occurred about 2 p.m. at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport but gave no further details on the attack.

The identity of the attackers, or how they got into the base was not immediately clear, and U.S. and Iraqi officials could not be reached for comment. There have been several incidents recently when gunmen dressed as Iraqi soldiers have opened fire on American troops, including an attack in the northern city of Mosul on May 2 when two soldiers and the gunman were killed.

The toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul. The U.S. death toll in April was 19, the highest in seven months, amid an upsurge of violence in Iraq.

Separately, the military announced Monday that a U.S. soldier was also killed a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Basra province of southern Baghdad.

Also Monday, a senior Iraqi traffic officer was assassinated Monday morning on his way to work in Baghdad. It was the second attack on a high-ranking traffic police officer in the capital in as many days.

A car cut off Brig. Gen. Abdul-Hussein al-Kadhoumi as he drove through a central square in the capital and a second vehicle pulled up alongside and riddled him with bullets, police said, citing witnesses. Al-Kadhoumi was director of operations for the traffic authority.

The gunmen were armed with pistols equipped with silencers, the police added on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Incidents involving gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons, including silencers, have been on the rise since a string of high-profile robberies in April.

Yet earlier stories were:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ml-iraq,0,4847587.story
Pentagon: U.S. soldier opens fire on fellow troops, kills 5 in Baghdad
BY ROBERT H. REID | Associated Press Writer
    10:16 AM CDT, May 11, 2009
BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. soldier opened fire on fellow troops and at least five were killed Monday, the Pentagon and U.S. Command said.

It was unclear if the shooter was among the dead in the shooting, which the U.S. Command said in a brief statement occurred about 2 p.m. at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport.

Pentagon officials first indicated that an Army soldier shot the others and then turned the gun on himself. Later, the officials said it was unclear whether the shooter was among the five dead.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive and details unclear............


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iraq-Soldier-Kills-Five-Fellow-Troops-At-US-Base-In-Baghdad/Article/200905215279634?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15279634_Iraq%3A_Soldier_Kills_Five_Fellow_Troops_At_US_Base_In_Baghdad


Breaking News

4:33pm UK, Monday May 11, 2009
A US soldier has shot dead five of his fellow troops at an American base in Baghdad, a Pentagon official has said.

At least two others were wounded in the attack at Camp Liberty in the Iraqi capital, said the official.

The details of the incident remain unclear.

"The shooter is a US soldier and he is in custody," said Marine Corps Lieutenant Tom Garnett, a US military spokesman.

A military statement said the shooting took place around 2 pm local time at the sprawling base next to Baghdad airport.........

 
Ouch, my thoughts go out to those killed but will hold comments untill more is released about this.  If more is released.
 
The military, like the rest of society, is a cross-section of all types. Stuff happens.
 
U.S. Soldier Kills 5 Comrades in Iraq, Military Says

 
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: May 11, 2009

BAGHDAD — The United States military said Monday that five American soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the suspected shooter was in custody.

The killings appeared to be one of the worst cases of lethal non-combat casualties for the American forces in Iraq since the invasion more than six years ago.

The shooting took place at around 2 p.m. local time at Camp Liberty, a sprawling base next to Baghdad airport, the military said in a statement. The names of the dead soldiers were being withheld pending family notification, the statement said.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” Col. John Robinson, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, said in the statement.

CNN, citing unnamed officials, said that at least three others were wounded in the attack, which it said had taken place at a clinic for soldiers suffering from war stress.

Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq, but a rash of major bombings by insurgents has raised questions about security less than two months before American forces are due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases.

Earlier this month, two American soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi Army uniform at an Iraqi military training centre south of Mosul

In April, 18 American military personnel members were killed in Iraq — double the number in March and the highest since September 2008, when 25 were killed.
 
U.S. soldier guns down 5 comrades in Iraq, officials say
Updated Mon. May. 11 2009 12:40 PM ET

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. soldier opened fire on fellow troops at a counselling centre inside a U.S. base Monday, killing five before being taken into custody.

The U.S. command and Pentagon officials said the shooting occurred at Camp Liberty, a sprawling U.S. base on the western edge of Baghdad near the city's international airport.

A brief U.S. statement said the soldier "suspected of being involved with the shooting" was in custody but gave no further details. Nobody else was hurt, the military said. It was unclear what provoked the attack.

In Washington, Pentagon officials said the shooting happened at a stress clinic, where troops can go for help with the stresses of combat or personal issues.

"Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all," U.S. spokesman Col. John Robinson said. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy."

Separately, the military announced Monday that a U.S. soldier was killed a day earlier when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Basra province of southern Baghdad.

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul.

In 2005, U.S. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to death for killing two officers in Kuwait just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In June 2005, an Army captain and lieutenant were killed when an anti-personnel mine detonated in the window of their room at the U.S. base in Tikrit. National Guard Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was acquitted in the blast.

Additionally, there have been several incidents recently when gunmen dressed as Iraqi soldiers have opened fire on American troops, including an attack in the northern city of Mosul on May 2 when two soldiers and the gunman were killed.

Also Monday, a senior Iraqi traffic officer was assassinated on his way to work in Baghdad. It was the second attack on a high-ranking traffic police officer in the capital in as many days.

A car cut off Brig.-Gen. Abdul-Hussein al-Kadhoumi as he drove through a central square in the capital and a second vehicle pulled up alongside and riddled him with bullets, police said, citing witnesses.

The gunmen were armed with pistols equipped with silencers, the police said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090511/baghdad_shooting_090511/20090511?hub=TopStories

 
U.S. soldier charged in comrades’ deaths

By Robert H. Reid, The Associated Press
   
 




Wilburn C. Russell, 73, wipes his eyes after talking to reporters in front of the house his son U.S. Army Sgt. John Russell purchased in Sherman, Texas, Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Russell's son is accused of killing five fellow troops at their base in Iraq. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military command launched an investigation Tuesday into whether it offers adequate mental health care to its soldiers, a day after a sergeant finishing up his third tour of Iraq allegedly shot and killed five comrades at a clinic on a U.S. base.

Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, of Sherman, Texas, was taken into custody outside a mental health clinic at Camp Liberty following Monday’s shooting and charged with five counts of murder and one of aggravated assault, Maj.-Gen. David Perkins said.

The case, the deadliest of the war involving soldier-on-soldier violence, has cast a spotlight on combat stress and emotional problems resulting from frequent deployments to battle zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Up to one-fifth of the more than 1.7 million who have served in the two conflicts are believed to have symptoms of anxiety, depression and other emotional problems. Some studies show that about half of those who need help do not seek it.

Russell’s father said his son, who joined the army in 1994 after a divorce and minor scrapes with the law, felt poorly treated at the stress centre. He said he hopes “we find he snapped because of the pressure. He wasn’t a mean person.”

In Baghdad, Perkins told reporters that Russell, a communications specialist assigned to the 54th Engineer Battalion from Bamberg, Germany, was sent to the mental health clinic by his superiors, presumably because of concern over his emotional state. 
 

He said the commander had ordered Russell’s weapon taken away from him but somehow he got a new weapon, entered the clinic and opened fire.

Perkins declined to give a detailed account of the shooting, saying the matter was under investigation.

However, a Pentagon official said in Washington that Russell had been escorted to the clinic, but once inside argued with the staff and was asked to leave.

After he drove away, Russell apparently seized his escort’s weapon and returned to the clinic, the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

The clinic was operated by the 55th Medical Company, a Reserve unit headquartered in Indianapolis. Two of the victims were officers assigned to the clinic and the three others were enlisted soldiers, Perkins said.

The Pentagon identified Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., as one of the victims of the shooting. The mother of Michael Edward Yates Jr. said two men from the army came to her Federalsburg, Md., home early Tuesday to tell say her 19-year-old son was killed.

In addition to the ongoing criminal investigation, Perkins said the U.S. command had opened a formal inquiry into the “general availability” of health care for American service personnel in Iraq, “specifically the policies and procedures surrounding behavioural health services.”

He gave no further details and did not say how the investigation was being conducted.

The U.S. military has become increasingly concerned about mental health in the ranks following a steady rise in suicides — which the army says have increased worldwide from at least 102 in 2006 to 140 last year. As of April, the army had reported at least 48 suicides.

Thousands of other veterans are believed to suffer flashbacks, nightmares or fits of anger as they attempt to readjust to civilian life.

In Sherman, Wilburn Russell, 73, said he believes counsellors in the military stress centre “broke” his son before the shootings.

The younger Russell was six weeks away from completing his third tour in Iraq before Monday’s shootings, the father told reporters Tuesday in front of the two-storey suburban home his son is buying with his wife.

Wilburn Russell said his son was treated poorly at the military stress centre. He said his son had emailed his wife, calling two recent days the worst in his life.

“I hate what that boy did,” the elder Russell said. “He thought it was justified. That’s never a solution.”

He said his son felt like “his life was over as far as he was concerned. He lived for the military.”

John Russell began his active military service after a divorce and a series of minor criminal scrapes in his hometown, according to records in Grayson County, Texas.

His ex-wife obtained a temporary restraining order against him and an order withholding earnings for child support. In February 1993, a month after the divorce decree was issued, Russell was charged with misdemeanour assault but the matter was dropped, the records show.

A Pentagon official said Russell previously served two one-year tours of duty in Iraq, one from April 2003 and another beginning November 2005. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record.

Russell, who had also served in the Balkans, was due to leave Iraq within weeks, he confirmed. During his current tour, Russell was assigned to a command in charge of security south of Baghdad.

To cope with the stress, the army has set up clinics on most major bases in Iraq, staffing them with psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and other specialists.

Commanders, chaplains and others in leadership positions are also trained to watch for signs of stress and refer soldiers to mental health professionals if needed.

However, some officials believe soldiers are reluctant to take advantage of the facilities because of the stigma attached to counselling in a military culture that promotes mental and physical toughness

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/05/12/9437396-ap.html

 
He said the commander had ordered Russell’s weapon taken away from him but somehow he got a new weapon, entered the clinic and opened fire.

Perkins declined to give a detailed account of the shooting, saying the matter was under investigation.

However, a Pentagon official said in Washington that Russell had been escorted to the clinic, but once inside argued with the staff and was asked to leave.

After he drove away, Russell apparently seized his escort’s weapon and returned to the clinic, the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

Along with investigating the adequacy of medical care, they may want to investigate weapon security, too.
 
Not a vey helpful comment at this stage of the investigation. There is some question that this may have been a premeditated act rather than an NCO that snapped. This type of thing shouldnt happen but on rare occaision does.
 
tomahawk6 said:
Not a vey helpful comment at this stage of the investigation.

I just meant it may be something they want to look into later, after the investigation is done.  However, would that not be part of an investigation?  The same as if a criminal being apprehended were to grab a cop's weapon?
 
Its farfetched to blame medical treatment or weapons security at this point. Sgt Russell was unarmed or had been disarmed at the clinic. How he obtained another weapon is under investigation. In a combat zone with easy access to weapons where there is a will there is a way unfortunately. One of those killed was a Navy doc a Commander. Russell is now charged with 5 counts of murder and one count of aggrevated assault. Sgt Russell's job didnt take him outside the wire he was in a battalion commo shop. Russell's actions probably stem from his pending elimination from the Army. It isnt clear whether he was barred from re-enlisting or was being chaptered. If this decision had been made he should have been sent home,given counseling  and job assistance.
 
tomahawk6 said:
Its farfetched to blame medical treatment or weapons security at this point.

I didn't blame either.  I just thought that an investigation would include all aspects of the incident.  It's been my experience that investigations are not only for determining what happened, but also useful tools for prevention of recurrence.
Since I'm obviously not a SME, I'll refrain from any further comments.
 
Army IDs soldiers shot by sgt. at Camp Liberty

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 13, 2009 10:50:21 EDT
 
The Defense Department has identified the four soldiers killed Monday when a fellow soldier fired into a combat stress clinic on Camp Liberty, Iraq.

They are Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.; and Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.

Houseal was assigned to the 55th Medical Company of Indianapolis, Ind.

Bueno-Galdos and Yates were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of Grafenwoehr, Germany. Barton belonged to the 277th Engineer Company, 420th Engineer Brigade of Waco, Texas.

The fifth service member killed Monday was identified Tuesday. He was Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C. He also was assigned to the 55th Medical Company.

As part of the medical company, Springle and Houseal both worked at the Liberty Combat Stress Control Center.

A sergeant from the Bamberg, Germany-based 370th Engineer Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, has been charged in the shootings.

Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, first joined the Army National Guard in 1988; he went into the active Army in 1994. He is charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

Russell, who was on his third Iraq deployment, remains in custody in Iraq.

Special agents from Army Criminal Investigation Command continue to investigate the shootings.

The Army also has initiated an AR 15-6 investigation to determine if there are adequate mental health facilities in Iraq, said Lt. Col. David Patterson, a spokesman for Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

The suspect was referred to counseling the week before the shootings and his commander determined that it was best for him not to have a weapon, said Maj. Gen. David Perkins, a spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq.

According to an Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity, preliminary reports show the suspected shooter was unarmed when he was escorted to the combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty, a sprawling U.S. base near Baghdad’s international airport. Once inside, he got into a verbal altercation with the staff and was asked to leave. The soldier and his escort got back into their vehicle and began to drive away, according to the Army official.

At some point during the drive, the soldier got control of his escort’s weapon and ordered the escort out of the vehicle, the Army official said. The soldier then drove back to the clinic, walked in and began shooting, the official said.

Soldiers from the 55th Medical Company provided immediate counseling for those who witnessed the shooting and were at the center at the time of the incident, Perkins said.

“Anytime we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” MNC-I spokesman Col. John Robinson said. “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy.”

According to Army records, Russell, of Sherman, Texas, first deployed to Iraq in April 2003. He returned for a second tour in May 2005. Before that, he deployed for six months in 1996 to Serbia and for seven months in 1998 to Bosnia.

During a press briefing Monday afternoon at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed his “horror and deep regret” over the shooting, adding that officials are still in the process of gathering information on exactly what happened.

“Such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause of great and urgent concern,” he said.

When asked if the suspected gunman had been deployed multiple times, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday he did not have that information. However, he said, the tragedy occurred while service members were seeking help at the clinic.

“It does speak to me for the need for us to redouble our efforts in terms of dealing with the stress [of combat],” Mullen said. “It also speaks to the issues of multiple deployments [and] increasing dwell time.”

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for U.S. personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in Mosul, in northern Iraq.
 
Did I miss it where any report so far has said "his job didn't take him outside the wire" because I seem to be missing that bit.

Link please?

 
No news article has this info,rather a soldier in Russell's unit made the statement.

http://lightfighter.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5436084761/m/111109262

Well, I'll save you some speculation. SGT Russell was what is more commonly know as a "commo sergeant". He typically worked with line companies for the last three or so years in this unit, but in the last several months had been moved to the battalion signal shop. CREWS were not really his area, and they do not really let us Army folks play with those anyhow (other than looking at a Spec-A).

If he went on a single combat patrol, at any point during the last two deployments, I don't know about it (he might have been ordered at some point, on principle). Combat Stress is Mental Health with a highspeed name, that's all. As far as staff and fobbit types go, the stree is due a lot more to command climate and working environment. As I am not going to air dirty laundry with respect to my own unit in a public forum, so I cannot comment anymore on that.

From my own experience with him, he didn't stand out. He's got one lung, does the walk alternate event on the APFT, smokes like a chimney, seemingly happily married, bought a house, peculiar laugh, pretty easy going (before this tour, anyhow). It's not like he was always batty and just let go one day...he changed.
 
So, in "saving us some speculation" ... he admits to "speculating" with his use of the word "if he was outside the wire". Funny that; even goes on to state that he "may have been ordered out" ...

Talks about the guys two tours to the sandbox, but the guy's had three tours there now - that in an offical statement from DoD, not some supposed-coworkers misplaced anonymous mumblings on the internet (because we all know that everything you see on the internet is factual  ::)).

I love people who just can't shut the fuck up and allow the investigation to bear unbiased fruit.

So, factually, we have nothing that says this guy "didn't go outside the wire" ... any comment otherwise is just speculation and based on 'speculation'. Nice.
 
051209ap_russell_story.JPG


Sgt Russell

Another story to consider.
Funny Vern,we see comments like that all that time on this site and others that you either accept or you dont. Russell will get his day in court to tell his story. You dont have to go out on combat patrols to feel stress as you well know. There are thousands of US soldiers that have been in theater but their jobs dont take them beyond the wire and yet they have to cope with stress just like the combat arms soldiers have to. This is not the first time a soldier has killed fellow soldiers and it wont be the last I suspect. Maybe these incidents have occured because the Army has had to relax recruiting standards. Maybe because of the expansion of the Army our junior leaders dont have alot of experience in dealing with problems.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090513/1airaq13_cv.art.htm

Accused killer's father: The Army 'broke him'
Five slayings in Iraq raise questions over deployments, stress
By Paul Wiseman, Andrea Stone and Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY

BAGHDAD — Three long tours in Iraq. A stalled military career. Worries about his life back home, including how he was going to pay his mortgage.

The portrait that emerged Tuesday of Sgt. John Russell, the 44-year-old from Sherman, Texas, charged with killing five fellow servicemembers at a Baghdad military base, in many ways personifies the emotionally taxed soldier the Army says has become a growing concern as the Iraq war stretches into its seventh year.

Russell recently had e-mailed his wife to tell her "his life was over," his father, Wilburn Russell, told a Sherman TV station. He told KXII that his son had been ordered by his superiors into stress counseling, where the sergeant feared that officers were trying to drive him out of the Army just a few weeks before he was due to return home.

"They broke him," Wilburn Russell said, wiping away tears as he stood on the front porch of his son's brick home. "They decided they wanted to get rid of him."

The military said in a statement that Sgt. Russell, a communications specialist with the 54th Engineering Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, will face five counts of murder stemming from Monday's shooting, the worst incident of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war. Maj. Gen. David Perkins, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said Russell had been receiving counseling for at least a week because "his chain of command had concerns about him."

Commanders in Iraq allege Russell was being escorted from the mental health clinic at Camp Liberty when he overpowered his guard and took away a weapon, according to two Army officials who received written accounts and verbal briefings about the incident. Russell then returned to the clinic and killed two military doctors and three enlisted personnel, according to the allegations. The officials would not speak on the record because the case is ongoing.

"They escorted him out with a guy with a gun," Wilburn Russell said. "That was the worst thing they could have done. They trained him to kill; he had a short fuse when they antagonized him."

The Army said it would launch an investigation into whether there are too few stress clinics and counseling services for troops who are on the battlefield. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff and point man on mental health issues, said the military has long been concerned that the unprecedented demands of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to severe strains.

"We've never, I don't believe, had a force that we've put through seven years of continuous combat like this, where such a large percentage of the force is going on these multiple deployments," Chiarelli told USA TODAY on Tuesday. "It is definitely uncharted territory for us, given that we have an all-volunteer force that's been fighting for as long as we've been fighting."

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 150,000 Army soldiers have deployed more than once to Afghanistan, Iraq and the surrounding region. Of those, about 46,000 have served a third or fourth deployment. Because of the military's manpower shortage in recent years, many of those taxed soldiers have spent only a year at home before being sent back into combat. Chiarelli said he hopes that once U.S. forces start to leave Iraq in significant numbers next year, troops will have two years between combat deployments.

Russell is a member of a group that has faced particular strains: non-commissioned officers, or NCOs. They often are referred to as the "backbone" of the Army, the sergeants and staff sergeants whose mission is to lead soldiers and take care of them. A 2007 Army study showed that more than 27% of NCOs on their third or fourth deployment showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety or depression — compared with roughly 20% of the Army as a whole.

"If the backbone of the Army begins to wobble, it's worrisome," said Ward Casscells, until recently the Pentagon's top doctor. He said senior leaders, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, "are worried sick about it."

The military has tried to improve its mental health care system. Troops receive cards listing warning signs for suicidal tendencies, briefings on how to spot depression in other troops and how to seek additional help through counseling and therapy. The ratio of mental health counselors to soldiers has improved since 2007, when it was one therapist per 734 troops. Today it is one to 627, Army spokeswoman Margaret Tippy said.

Chiarelli noted that Russell had been identified as a risk by his commanders and put into counseling — just as the system is supposed to work. "It seems to me that everybody was attempting to do the right thing," Chiarelli said. "The unit seemed to be doing everything the right way."

Perkins, the military spokesman, said the victims of the shooting include a Navy officer and an Army officer with the 55th Medical Company based in Indianapolis. The other three were enlisted soldiers who were seeking treatment, he said. He did not provide their names, although a Pentagon statement late Tuesday said Charles K. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., died Monday in a "non-combat incident" at Camp Liberty.

A Texas clinic official said psychiatrist Matthew Houseal of Amarillo was among the dead. Bud Schertler, director of Texas Panhandle Mental Health and Mental Retardation, said Houseal's wife confirmed that the doctor who'd worked at the clinic for 12 years had been killed.

Also killed was Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md., according to his mother, Shawna Machlinski.

Some other details about the incident remained unclear, including a full accounting of how the shooting happened or what kind of weapon was used.

Reporters in Iraq were banned from visiting Camp Liberty for a second consecutive day because the clinic is "a crime scene," Lt. Col. Amy Hannah, a military spokesman, said by e-mail.

Perkins did not detail what stress symptoms Russell had shown that led his commander to refer him to counseling. He said Russell was on his third tour in Iraq and had shown enough warning signs that his commander had "determined it was best for him not to have a weapon."

Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, said Russell's job as a NCO made it "particularly challenging" for him to seek treatment. "He's in a leadership capacity, and to make that trip (to the clinic) is a tough decision for him or his chain of command to make."

Wilburn Russell told KXII his son was dyslexic and had trouble keeping jobs. He joined the Army National Guard in 1988, and then became an active-duty soldier in 1994 after a divorce and a series of scrapes with the law, including a conviction for criminal trespassing, according to records in Grayson County, Texas.

At one point, his ex-wife got a temporary restraining order against him and an order withholding earnings for child support, the records show.

Public records show Russell and his current wife, Mandy, took out a mortgage for nearly $106,000 on their house in Sherman last July. The elder Russell said his son was "deeply in debt."

Despite that, Wilburn Russell said his son took tai chi, played chess and was "very stable" before his problems began in the military. Wilburn Russell said his son had seen "carnage" in Iraq and was frustrated with his superiors. "When you take a guy who's got 16 years (in the Army) and he's going to lose his career and lose his pension, you've gone too far. … They sent him off with his tail between his legs thinking he was going to be drummed out of the service."

The soldier's son, John Russell II, 20, told KXII that his father had last e-mailed April 25. He said his father seemed normal and planned to be back in Texas to visit in July.

"He's not a violent person," the son said. "For this to happen, it had to be something going on the Army's not telling us about."

Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, said it's uncommon for a soldier to spend 15 years in the Army without advancing past the rank of sergeant — as happened with Russell.

Despite the questions raised by Russell's father about the quality of military counselors, Renee Campos of the Military Officers Association of America said commanders are well aware they must worry about the physical and mental health of troops whose rest periods are often short.

"For commanders, it's kind of an untenable position," Campos said. "Commanders are in the fight to fight. They've got a lot of pressure to do the mission, but they've also got the other things (troop stress) that are going on."

She wants more emphasis on providing commanders the tools to track, diagnose and treat soldiers with problems.

Matthew Miller, associate director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, praised the Army for taking weapons away from soldiers such as Russell who are undergoing crisis counseling. He said suicide or homicide are more likely to occur when a troubled person has easy access to weapons and characterized Monday's shooting as an example of workplace violence.

"If they can figure out how to prevent someone whose guns are taken away from so quickly getting another, lives will be saved," Miller said. "That is the only glimmer of light in this otherwise horribly dark event."

Davis, the veterans' spokesman, agreed that Iraq and Afghanistan posed challenges unlike previous wars.

"One truism is 'All wars end,' " Davis said. "But there's a lot of people in uniform saying, 'When is our war going to end?' "

 
Accused soldier's family searches for answers
By Tony Perry
July 26, 2009
LA Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-soldier26-2009jul26,0,2933198.story

Reporting from Sherman, Texas -- Tears come to Elizabeth Russell's eyes when she thinks of the five Americans her son is accused of gunning down in a moment of rage in Iraq.

She prays for them at St. Patrick Catholic Church in nearby Denison: the Navy officer, the Army psychiatrist and the three Army enlisted men; their widows, their parents and their children.

She also prays for her son, Army Sgt. John Russell, who faces five counts of premeditated murder for what happened the morning of May 11 at a combat stress center on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Russell, 44, is in custody in Kuwait, awaiting an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing. Under military law, a conviction can carry a death sentence; the minimum is life in prison.

In more than seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, there have been a handful of cases of alleged attacks between U.S. troops -- but never one in which a soldier stands accused of killing five colleagues.

The Russell case also brings up issues of how well the Army is evaluating the mental health of troops in the combat zones, many of whom, like Russell, have endured repeated deployments. The Army is now studying the psychological services available to soldiers in Iraq.

Elizabeth and Wilburn Russell live in the two-story house on Swan Ridge Drive in this tidy, middle-class community that was meant to be the dream home for their son and his German-born wife, Mandy, when he retired from the Army.

Russell had been a competent soldier -- a communications technician -- but hardly a stellar performer. Diagnosed as a boy with a learning disorder, he struggled through school, and in the military he found an economic stability that might have eluded him in civilian life.

After 16 years, he was still a sergeant. He had lost a stripe earlier in his career for unauthorized absence.

Russell planned, after retirement, to return to Texas and maybe to get a maintenance job at the Texas Instruments plant where his parents worked until their retirements.

The Russells, their three daughters, and John Russell's 20-year-old son, John Michael II, are confused and obsessed about what they gingerly call "the event."

"Every day, it's all I think about," said John Michael II, who inherited his father's love of fishing and now works in a local bait shop. He had thought of joining the military but has changed his mind.

'This wasn't John'

All the Russells can think of is that Russell snapped under stress, a full year into his third combat tour in Iraq. His first tour had lasted 15 months, his second tour 12.

"This wasn't John, not John," Elizabeth Russell, 72, said quietly as she set the table for lunch.

E-mails and phone calls by Russell to family members suggested that he had been on a downward spiral emotionally for months.

After his second tour in Iraq, Russell had complained of sleeplessness and nightmares and sought help at the medical center at the U.S. base in Bamberg, Germany, where he was stationed. His wife said he saw a therapist three or four times and was given pills to help him sleep.

When his unit was set to redeploy to Iraq early last year, Russell got a delay because of a death in his wife's family. In May 2008, he deployed to Iraq with a different unit. The new unit was not a good fit.

In February, Russell complained to his sister Lisa Russell Wilson, 48, about being ostracized and picked on. "He asked me to pray for him," Wilson said. "He said: 'I'm not going to make it. These people are after me.' "

On April 15, he e-mailed his mother: "I am not feeling good, I have something and I can't get rid of it. Love John."

Five days later, he described how he complained about mold in an air-conditioning system at his base.

"Hey mom, good I was not very nice on the phone to the people at the office, so I hope that they fixed it. I thank that the mold in my air con is making me sick, I turned it off and I feel better. Love John."

To Mandy, his sister and mother, Russell made references to officers who singled him out for criticism and tough duty, like a three-day stint at a forward sentry post without relief.

At 6 feet 4 and in good physical shape, Russell could be an imposing presence, but the complaining and angry behavior were out of character, family members say. Wilburn Russell, 73, a blunt-talking former boxer and retired Department of Defense civilian employee, said that the changes in his son were alarming but that the family was helpless.

"Whether these things happened or not, they were real to John," said his father.

On May 6, John Russell sent an e-mail to his wife:

"Hey, baby, for the last two days I have been in hell. I was threatened buy a soldier. I didn't know what to do. All it is all said and done, I am left feeling so terrible you could just never know. These people are not good people and I think that I am going a little crazy.

"I really need to get out of the Army soon. I came close to losing everything that I have worked for."

A day later, Russell e-mailed Mandy again: "I went off on an officer, but he is not going to get me in trouble because he was one of the people that threatened me. So we have a clean slate. Love John."

Near going home

What happened in the next few days is unclear.

Whether voluntarily or under orders, Russell went to the combat stress center at Camp Liberty where psychiatrists and other mental health workers evaluate soldiers for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Russell was within weeks of the end of his yearlong deployment -- which is often an unsettling time for service personnel. As troops prepare to return home, feelings of inadequacy or failure can overwhelm them as they ponder explaining their deployment to family members or other troops.

At the stress center, Russell was given medication -- his family is unclear what type -- and officials took away his sidearm, a routine precaution for soldiers receiving counseling.

On May 11, Russell had some sort of dispute at the center and was ordered to leave. Once outside, he allegedly grabbed a gun from his escort, burst into the center and started firing. He meekly submitted to arrest minutes later.

Dead were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C.; Maj. Matthew Philip Houseal, 54, of Amarillo, Texas; Staff Sgt. Christian Enrique Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; Spc. Jacob David Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.; and Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.

Russell's family members are reluctant to use the word "victim," not wanting to be insensitive to the agonized relatives of the five dead. Still, they feel that John was also a victim of what happened May 11 -- a victim of unrelenting stress from deployments to Iraq totaling 39 months and an Army mental health system that failed him.

"I don't think he was in his right mind," Mandy said in a telephone interview.

The Army is also interested in the state of Russell's mind. He was brought to Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington for psychological tests in June before being returned to Kuwait. His family was not allowed to see him.

Looking back now, it is possible to see many frustrations in Russell's life. At age 8 he was diagnosed with the reading disorder dyslexia. When he was 12, the family moved from Plano, Texas, to Sherman, where the school system put Russell in a special-education class.

"John was upset because he thought he was considered a dummy," his mother has written in a family history. He tried playing football but leg problems forced him to quit.

He quit high school and got a job in a restaurant. There he met a young woman who encouraged him to return to school and get a diploma in 1985. The two married that year and had a son in 1989.

The marriage soured. "John went thru a depression because he was out of work and they were divorced in 1993," his mother wrote.

He had joined the Texas Army National Guard after high school. In 1995, after working a series of maintenance jobs, he joined the regular Army and deployed for a year to Korea. He also served six months each in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Russell and Mandy met in Germany in 1997 and married in 1999. The couple have no children together. Mandy, 33, has visited Texas and shared her husband's dreams about retiring there.

In 2009, he still needed another four-year hitch to qualify for a full pension. His family believes that a threat from an officer to block his reenlistment -- real, false, or imagined -- may have pushed him into violence.

When the news broke about the shootings at Camp Liberty, reporters raced the 60 miles north from Dallas to find the Russells at their son's home in Sherman. His father told the reporters: "I hate what that boy did."

Words of support

When the press left, neighbors came by to express condolences. Some offered to cook, others to do chores -- in the manner of neighbors helping a family that has suffered a death.

Within days, the Russells began getting letters, some hate-filled but most from women offering support.

One woman wrote: "Hopefully, if anything good can come of this, John's hell will help to bring real change in the Army system."

Another woman who said she has two foster sons in the military sent this message: "I'm sorry that the military he loved didn't take better care of him. My family and I will be praying for you and your family."

Austin-based lawyer James Culp, a former Army infantry sergeant, has counseled the Russell family to be realistic. He has represented five troops accused of murder or manslaughter in Iraq or after their service.

Culp said that although there seems little doubt that Russell's mental state was diminished by his three tours in Iraq, "the hurdle to prove insanity in a criminal trial is very difficult." Proving that the shooting was "in the heat of passion" will also be difficult, he said.

"Any result in this case that spares Sgt. Russell's life will be a victory of sorts," Culp said.

These days, Elizabeth Russell peppers her son's military lawyer with questions but gets few answers. She gathered up books to send to her son in Kuwait: Western novels by Louis L'Amour, Roman history and suspense potboilers by Dean Koontz.

While in the brig, he had a "hostile meeting" with a psychiatrist and fired his first lawyer. His mother remembers a brief telephone call with him four days after "the event."

"He didn't remember anything about that day," she said. "He sounded really tired, exhausted.

"I told him we loved him."

 
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