Army Reprimands Nine Officers in Fort Hood Shooting

Nine U.S. Army officers were reprimanded for leadership failures in connection with the shooting rampage in November 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, and their failure to detect and report problems with the accused shooter as he moved along in his medical career. Saying that although no single event led to the tragedy, an Army Secretary found certain officers failed to meet expected standards, an Army statement said March 10. The officers, all lieutenant or above, will receive punishments ranging from an oral reprimand to the far more serious written letter of censure that is considered a career-ender. The shooting suspect is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 shooting spree on the Texas military post. A 2010 Pentagon review found the suspect’s supervisors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he worked expressed serious concerns about his questionable behavior and poor judgment, but failed to heed their own warnings. It said the Army psychiatrist’s supervisors continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving up through the ranks despite worries about his strident views on Islam and worries about his competence.