Man wanted for Army desertion arrested
Five murder suspects from same battalion
Soldiers deserting the military on the rise
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cape/121003WWPOLICEDEC10.html
police blotter:
Man wanted for Army desertion arrested
NORTH WILDWOOD - A man wanted for several outstanding Municipal Court warrants was placed in the county jail Friday after police learned he was wanted for military desertion.Police said Anthony Louis Quinones, 21, of West 17th Avenue, was seen crawling through a window at 12:49 p.m. The man was crawling into the window of his home, but when police checked on the man's identity, they found he was wanted locally and by the Army.
He was housed in the jail until he could be transported to a military base, police said. Quinones was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga.
(Compiled by staff writer Trudi Gilfillian.)
_______________________________http://www/ledger-enquirer/news/7257910.htm
Posted on Fri, Nov. 14, 2003
Five murder suspects from same battalion
1-15 engaged in some of Iraq's bloodiest battles
BY S. THORNE HARPER
Staff WriterFive soldiers -- arrested within two weeks of each other in connection with two separate Columbus murders -- are from the same Fort Benning-based infantry battalion that served in Iraq.
Jacob Burgoyne, Mario Navarette and Douglas Woodcoff, all 24, were arrested Nov. 7 and charged with murder in the death of 25-year-old Spc. Richard Thomas Davis of St. Charles, Mo. Their charges were reduced Monday in Columbus Recorder's Court to concealing the death of another.
A fourth soldier, Alberto Martinez, 23, is being held without bond as a fugitive in the San Diego Central Jail. He was arrested Saturday by Oceanside, Calif., police.
Martinez, who has an outstanding arrest warrant in Muscogee County for murder, waived extradition to Georgia, Columbus police Maj. Russell Traino said Thursday. Columbus police fugitive squad officers will travel to California in the next two to three days to retrieve Martinez from authorities in San Diego.
Davis was stabbed and beaten within 72 hours of his return from Iraq.
Sgt. Ricky Levar Williams, 26, was arrested Oct. 29 and charged with murder in the shooting death of a 24-year-old Harris County man outside a Columbus nightclub on Oct. 26. Williams has pleaded innocent to the charge. A second soldier, Sgt. Michael James Borr Jr., was also charged with murder.
Other than Borr, who is part of the 29th Infantry, all served in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment.
The 1-15, which engaged in some of the Iraq war's bloodiest battles, served the longest deployment of any Army unit leading up to and during the war. The battalion was deployed on a six-month exercise to Kuwait in May 2002. The last group of soldiers from that deployment returned to Fort Benning on Dec. 1. Soldiers began returning to Kuwait on Jan. 3 in the build-up toward war. They came home in July.
Davis returned July 12, the Army said Thursday. However, a Columbus police detective testified in Columbus Recorder's Court on Monday that Davis returned July 13.
Woodcoff's attorney, Mark Shelnutt, said he will seek information from the Army regarding his client's experience in Iraq.
"Of course we will look at what happened in Iraq and what they were exposed to there. Anything that's relevant," Shelnutt said Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Army convened a news conference at Fort Benning to address Davis' murder.
Asked whether the Army was concerned about a situation similar to the killings at Fort Bragg, N.C., 3rd Brigade commander Col. Steven Salazar said the 3rd Brigade followed Army standard operating procedure in providing counseling for soldiers before and after they returned home.
Within a six-week period last year, four U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers killed their wives after returning from the war in Afghanistan. Two of the soldiers committed suicide.
"We're certainly always concerned about our soldiers, concerned about their welfare," Salazar said. "It's part of the Army program to conduct reintegration training with soldiers prior to our redeployment (to the United States). These soldiers received reintegration training in Baghdad in anticipation of redeployment. They received reintegration training while in Kuwait prior to redeployment. And they received additional training once they returned to home station... The unit followed all procedures necessary."
Salazar expressed "deepest sorrow and condolences" over Davis' death, saying it had "a profound effect" on 3rd Brigade's 4,000 soldiers.
"Richard was a good soldier," Salazar said, noting that he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for combat service in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Davis served 13 months with the 1-15, including a six-month rotation to Kuwait before returning there as part of what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Salazar said the Army and the Columbus Police Department are working on a joint investigation into Davis' death.
"Our priorities remain assisting the Davis family, cooperating with civil and military investigators, as necessary, and providing appropriate counseling to soldiers in Spc. Davis' unit, so they can move forward and continue the hard work and training they do to make sure this unit is trained and ready to deploy, fight and win."
The Army dropped Davis from its rolls in August and declared him a deserter a month after he failed to report. Salazar said the Army was reinstating Davis as an active-duty soldier and that his family would receive appropriate benefits.
Salazar added that undisclosed 1-15 soldiers "went above and beyond those required by Army regulations" in assisting investigators.
"Ultimately it was the unit leadership that discovered the information that led to" the arrests of the four 1-15 soldiers, Salazar said.
Salazar said the 1-15 conducted a memorial service for Davis Thursday afternoon in the training field.
Staff writer Meg Pirnie contributed to this report.
© 2003 Ledger-Enquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.ledgerenquirer.com
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Soldiers deserting the military on the rise
11/26/2003 10:56:22 AM
By: News 14 Carolina StaffFort Bragg reports the number of people deserting the military is on the rise.
During the past year, Fort Bragg reported more than 200 soldiers went AWOL or deserted, up from about 100 from the year before.
A Bragg spokesman said a federal warrant is issued the moment there is a question about a soldier's whereabouts.
A soldier is considered AWOL after being absent for 30 days without leave, afterwards the person is considered a deserter.
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