Three soldiers assigned to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, have died so far this year. One was found dead in his off-post home, another in his company arms room, and another died of his injuries a week after being found in his on-post home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though causes of death have not been released, all three soldiers were found alone and early reports did not indicate foul play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young has asked, in a letter to Army surgeon general Lt. Gen. Nadja West, to send a team to Wainwright to investigate deaths of soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the number of military suicides continues to climb in Alaska, it is clear that the battle is far from over,\u201d he wrote in the letter dated Tuesday. \u201cTherefore, I request that you send [an Army Medical Command] team to Fort Wainwright to examine the situation on the ground and provide us and the installation with solutions for a path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter does not specifically mention names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deaths at Wainwright this year that have been under investigation and unexplained include: Sgt. Jorden Williams, a working dog handler found dead in his off-post home in January; Spc. Ashvin Slaughter, whose body was discovered in his company arms room later that month; and Sgt. Brian Sawyer, who was discovered in his on-post home and transferred to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, before dying of his injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, in September 2018, another Fort Wainwright soldier, Pvt. Mason Jeremiah Heimer, was found dead in his truck at a nearby campground parking lot, a week after he had gone missing. The following month, a Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier, Sgt. Andrew Washington was found dead in his Anchorage home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials have not publicly stated that these specific deaths are suicides. But unexplained deaths are raising concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike the rest of America, the Army continues to grapple with suicide,” U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said in a statement. “While the Army has made progress, more work needs to be done. Preventing suicides is an Army priority, and anything that can be done to further that priority and reduce the risk of suicide is welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you are well aware, the military-veteran community is an extremely tightknit group,\u201d Young wrote. \u201cThis is especially true in Alaska, which has made these deaths particularly alarming for the local community, and has raised many questions about the health and well-being of our service members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesman for Army Medical Command could not confirm whether West had read the letter or was planning a response, as of Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Army posts in Alaska have seen a spate of soldier deaths in recent months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":117,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,117],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3344],"class_list":["post-71051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-middle-column"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RGLDGXFMDBFXDKA2ULDPFUJQO4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2019\/03\/15\/a-new-call-for-investigating-suspected-soldier-suicides-in-alaska\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n