Tagged: Joint Base Lewis-McChord

An Army combat engineer has become the 12th Washington based soldier to die in Afghanistan this year. The pace of deaths has picked up in recent weeks as the summer fighting season begins.

The Army says Sgt. 1st Class Barett McNabb was killed by an improvised explosive device. He was on his fourth deployment, but his first to Afghanistan.

McNabb is just the latest soldier from Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord to die in Afghanistan. May was the deadliest month so far this year with six soldier deaths.

Five years ago the Defense Department and VA made an effort to streamline the process. It hasn’t worked.

The evaluations are a critical step for injured service members who are preparing to leave the military. Washington Senator Patty Murray is Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Murray grilled VA and DOD leaders about the wait times during a committee hearing Wednesday.

Murray: “That’s unacceptable for someone just waiting to figure out what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives.”

The GAO’s report found that last year active duty troops waited nearly 400 days for evaluations, longer for National Guard and Reserve.Further Murray says she’s concerned about the evaluation process itself known as IDES which can have the effect of seeming to pit commanders against soldiers.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A Lieutenant Colonel from Joint Base Lewis-McChord has been charged with threatening to kill his girlfriend, his estranged wife and his Army boss. The allegations come just days after another Lewis-McChord soldier was accused of a murderous attack on Afghan civilians.

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The U.S. soldier who allegedly massacred at least 16 Afghan civilians is reported to be from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. Soldiers assigned to the base express shock at the violence and concern about retaliation. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.