US Army Charges Eight in Death of Fellow Soldier

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 21, 2011 — Eight U.S. sol­diers deployed to south­ern Afghanistan were charged today in con­nec­tion with the death of a fel­low sol­dier, mil­i­tary offi­cials report­ed.

Army Pvt. Dan­ny Chen, an infantry­man assigned to Com­pa­ny C, 3rd Bat­tal­ion, 21st Infantry Reg­i­ment, 25th Infantry Divi­sion, died Oct. 3, offi­cials said. His body was found in a guard tow­er with an appar­ent self-inflict­ed gun­shot wound.

The Army has charged eight of Chen’s fel­low sol­diers in con­nec­tion with his death:
— 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz
— Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas
— Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bock­el
— Sgt. Adam M. Hol­comb
— Sgt. Jef­frey T. Hurst
— Spc. Thomas P. Cur­tis
— Spc. Ryan J. Offutt, and
— Sgt. Travis F. Carden

All of the accused are assigned to Com­pa­ny C, and post­ed to Com­bat Out­post Palace in south­ern Afghanistan, offi­cials said. Schwartz is charged with eight counts of dere­lic­tion of duty.

Dugas is charged with one count in vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, four counts of dere­lic­tion of duty, and one count of mak­ing a false offi­cial statement.

Van Bock­el is charged with two counts in vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, three counts of dere­lic­tion of duty, four counts of mal­treat­ment, one count of invol­un­tary manslaugh­ter, one count of assault con­sum­mat­ed by bat­tery, one count of neg­li­gent homi­cide, and one count of reck­less endangerment.

Hol­comb is charged with four counts of vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, two counts of dere­lic­tion of duty, two counts of mal­treat­ment, one count of destruc­tion of mil­i­tary prop­er­ty, one count of invol­un­tary manslaugh­ter, two counts of assault con­sum­mat­ed by bat­tery, one count of neg­li­gent homi­cide, one count of reck­less endan­ger­ment, and one count of com­mu­ni­cat­ing a threat.

Hurst is charged with two counts of vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, two counts of dere­lic­tion of duty, two counts of mal­treat­ment, one count of invol­un­tary manslaugh­ter, one count of assault con­sum­mat­ed by bat­tery, one count of neg­li­gent homi­cide, and one count of reck­less endangerment.

Cur­tis is charged with two counts of vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, one count of dere­lic­tion of duty, six counts of mal­treat­ment, one count of invol­un­tary manslaugh­ter, four counts of assault con­sum­mat­ed by bat­tery, one count of neg­li­gent homi­cide, and one count of reck­less endangerment.

Offutt is charged with two counts of vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, one count of dere­lic­tion of duty, four counts of mal­treat­ment, one count of invol­un­tary manslaugh­ter, three counts of assault con­sum­mat­ed by bat­tery, one count of neg­li­gent homi­cide, and one count of reck­less endangerment.

Car­den is charged with two counts of vio­la­tion of a law­ful gen­er­al reg­u­la­tion, two counts of mal­treat­ment, and one count of assault. As the legal process con­tin­ues, fur­ther infor­ma­tion will be pub­lished as it becomes avail­able, offi­cials said. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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