2,800 National Guard Soldiers Stand Ready to Rescue

NC National Guard has ‘historic’ response to Hurricane Florence
Fayetteville Observer
Drew Brooks
September 14, 2018

North Carolina National Guard troops are working alongside first responders as Hurricane Florence makes its way inland.

Officials said they know the worst is yet to come as the state prepares for more flooding and high winds.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division prepare themselves and their equipment for the potential impacts of Hurricane Florence at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Ga September 13. In addition to the Army's preparation happening on bases, Hunter Army Airfield has become a staging point for U.S. Coast Guard helicopters who mat be called on to assist in hurricane response efforts.

“We still have just over 2,800 National Guardsmen on state active duty,” said Lt. Col. Matt DeVivo, a spokesman for the NCNG.

That is the most troops ever activated ahead of a major storm.

“We’ve never had this many already ready to respond,” DeVivo said.
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Deployed Fort Stewart Soldier told wife was murdered on base

UPDATE 7/31/2018

FORT STEWART, Ga. — Authorities are offering up to $20,000 in reward money for tips that help solve the slaying of a woman at a military base in Georgia.

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Wife of deployed soldier found dead on Army post, suspect at large
WSAV
Darius Johnson
Updated: Jul 12, 2018

FORT STEWART, Ga. (WSAV) -- A statewide manhunt underway after the wife of a deployed soldier was found dead inside her home on Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Fort Stewart Public Affairs officials say the woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was found dead inside her home on base Tuesday night.

This comes after military police were called that morning by one of her relatives to check on her. Her husband is currently deployed.

"It's hard to believe. And it makes you worry if there is going to be more incidents,” says long-time Hinesville resident Jodee Adams. “Is this an isolated situation. Were their children in the home. It's very concerning the fact that they don't know who it was and its at-large now. "

Many on the base of Fort Stewart were surprised to hear Special Agents with the U.S. Criminal Investigation Command were investigating a homicide on base.read more here

Fort Stewart Soldier surrendered after standoff

Fort Stewart police respond after soldier barricades himself in on-post apartment
Army Times
By: Nicole Bauke
March 20, 2018

A Fort Stewart, Georgia, soldier barricaded himself with a weapon in his on-post apartment for three hours on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The incident happened about 11:20 a.m. on Courage Loop in Marne Point.

The soldier, who has not been identified at this time for privacy reasons, initially refused to comply with police commands, but he surrendered to military police almost three hours later.
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Family Wants Answers After Two Fort Stewart Soldiers Shot to Death

update

Fort Stewart Sergeant Arrested in Soldiers Deaths

Fort Stewart soldier from Macon shot to death, family pleads for answers 
WMAZ 13 News
March 7, 2017

Hinesville Police found the 23-year-old and fellow soldier 21-year-old Malika Jackson, dead in a townhouse Sunday night. They were both on active duty at Fort Stewart.

Marquez Brown (family photo)

The family of a Macon soldier found dead late Sunday in Hinesville is searching for answers. "Anything he wanted to do, any goal he had, he would reach it," Shakeera Simmons said. "And you knew he was going to do it to the best of his ability."

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Fort Stewart Army Ranger Killed During Live Fire Training

Afghanistan veteran Army Ranger, 21, dies after being 'seriously wounded during a live-fire exercise'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 14:15 EST, 11 December 2015

Cpl Andrew Aimesbury was injured during in southeast Georgia on Wednesday
The 21-year-old elite Army Ranger from Strafford, New Hampshire, served one tour of duty in Afghanistan
He died after being rushed to a hospital

The military is investigating the death of an Army Ranger who was injured during a training exercise in southeast Georgia.

The Army said in a news release Friday that 21-year-old Cpl Andrew Aimesbury was training with his squad at Fort Stewart when he was 'seriously wounded during a live-fire exercise.' He died after being rushed to a hospital.

Tracy Bailey, a spokeswoman for the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, declined to provide more details on how Aimesbury was injured in the incident Wednesday, citing an open investigation by the Army.
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Fort Wainwright Soldier Died in Motorcycle Crash

Soldier dies in Fairbanks motorcycle crash 
The Associated Press
Published: July 10, 2015

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A 32-year-old soldier assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks has died in a motorcycle crash.

The Army says Sgt. Stanley Bernard Daniels Jr. died early Wednesday after a crash at a city intersection less than a mile from the entrance to the post.
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Fort Stewart Welcomes Vietnam Veterans Home

UPDATE

At long last, Vietnam Veterans welcomed home in Fort Stewart ceremony
Savannah Now
By Corey Dickstein
Posted: June 19, 2015

Lydia Lee, of Savannah, cheers alongside her niece Rebecca Hill, of Athens, as they help "welcome home" about 500 Vietnam War veterans Friday evening during a ceremony at Fort Stewart's Cottrell Field. Lee, whose father served in the Air Force, had no relation to anyone participating in the ceremony that honored Vietnam vets for their service, but she wanted to support them. "It's time to welcome them home. Just like what my sign says, I wanted to thank them for all of our freedoms," she said.

Ian Maule/ Savannah Morning News- Vietnam veteran Jim Miller, of Savannah, Ga., poses for a portrait before the start of a Welcome Home Ceremony for Vietnam Veterans at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Ga. on Friday, June 19th, 2015. Miller served as an Army EMT during the war.

In the front line of the massive formation of aging warriors, Carl Muthersbaugh marched proudly toward the rowdy crowd of excited onlookers gathered just below the grandstands at Fort Stewart’s Cottrell Field.

Wearing a camouflage vest covered in patches bearing the names and insignia of the units he once served with, Muthersbaugh grew emotional as he discussed the short, symbolic walk he and some 500 other Vietnam War veterans took across Fort Stewart’s parade grounds Friday evening amid the massive crowd. “It’s a great day,” said Muthersbaugh, of Savannah, after embracing his wife Judy at the completion of the march. “It’s a great day that should have happened 50 years ago.”

As the nation begins to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the long, controversial conflict in southeast Asia, Fort Stewart officials decided to honor Vietnam veterans in a special way — by giving them the homecoming ceremony they could not have a half century ago.

“After everything these guys have gone through, this is just so very emotional,” Marie Neal said. “I think this is one of the most important decisions (the Army has) ever made. For years, as family we’ve had to say ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you’ to our Vietnam veterans because no one else would. read more here

Army May Cut 3,400 Contractors

Army Could Cut 3,400 Contractor Jobs at Three Bases
Military.com
by Richard Sisk
Jun 15, 2015

About 3,400 Army contract workers would lose their jobs in food services, supply and shipment of household goods at stateside bases if Congress fails to ease the budget shortfall in current negotiations on the defense bill.

In a statement issued late last Friday, the Army said the impact of the job losses at base Logistical Readiness Centers (LRCs) would be felt first at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Stewart, Ga.; and Fort Meade, Md.

The Army's 73 stateside LRCs manage food services, ammunition supply, clothing issue, bulk fuel, and the shipment of personal property and household goods.

The LRCs come under the Army's Materiel Command, based in Huntsville, Ala.

Kim Hanson, a spokeswoman for the Materiel Command, said that the job losses could result in the closure of dining facilities or limited hours at the facilities, and delays in the shipment of household goods.
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Man Convicted of Killing Fort Stewart Soldier for Insurance Money

Jasper man convicted of beating soldier to death for insurance money 
The Associated Press
March 27, 2015

A federal jury took less than an hour to convict an Alabama man of murder in the 2013 baseball bat slaying of a Fort Stewart soldier found beaten on government property near the southeast Georgia Army post.

The U.S. District Court jury returned its guilty verdict Thursday against 43-year-old Carl Evan Swain of Jasper, Alabama. Prosecutors say Swain killed his brother-in-law, 29-year-old Army Spc. John Eubank, in a plot with the defendant's sister to collect $500,000 in life insurance and benefit payments from the soldier's death.

"He is penniless. He is desperate, and he is willing to kill her husband if she'll pay him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Rafferty told jurors in his closing argument.

Swain didn't testify at during his trial, the Savannah Morning News reported. His defense attorney, Edward Tolley, asked jurors to consider Swain's statement to FBI agents after he was arrested in December 2013. read more here

Fort Stewart Soldier Saved Woman From Gators in Georgia

Soldier pulls woman from alligator-infested Fort Stewart pond
Army Times
Sep. 21, 2014

“I saw someone who needed help,” he said in the release. “I didn’t think, I just wanted to get the person out of the car.”

Pfc. Nathan Currie, an EOD specialist for the 756th Explosive Ordnance Detachment, rescued a woman after her car went into a pond at Fort Stewart, Georgia. (Army)

Like many soldiers in his situation, Pfc. Nathan Currie credited his Army training for informing his actions when he saved a woman from drowning last month at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

But few Army courses deal directly with diving into an alligator- and snake-infested pond to fish a stranger out of a sedan. That’s exactly what Currie, 28, did, interrupting his first fishing trip to Holbrook Pond after hearing a car splash into the water, according to an Army news release.

Currie, with 756th Explosive Ordnance Company, 63rd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group, felt a body in the back seat of the car on his first dive, then went down again to retrieve the woman, according to the Tuesday release from 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command, his unit’s parent outfit.
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Fort Stewart soldier killed on Florida beach, daughter in critical condition

Man killed in beach plane crash was veteran, family man
Bay 9 News
July 28, 2014

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured.

VENICE
The man killed Sunday on a beach near Venice was a seasoned U.S. soldier who survived two tours of duty in Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured. She remains in critical condition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Irizarry lived with his family on base at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia. The family was vacationing in Florida.
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Sad update

Soldier's war dog located when FCN story goes viral

Soldier's war dog located when FCN story goes viral
First Coast News
Jacob Long
May 14, 2014

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A reunion could be in the works for a Georgia soldier and the dog he believes was wrongfully taken from him.

First Coast News told the story this week of U.S. Army Specialist Luke Andrukitis and his wartime companion Robbie.

Robbie is a four-year-old Belgian Malinois the military used to sniff out explosives in Afghanistan. Andrukitis, who is stationed at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Ga., was Robbie's handler for about a year.

In a previously recorded interview, Andrukitis told FCN he and Robbie grew incredibly close.

"Literally, every waking moment you're spending with that dog, (you're) bonding because to the dog you are like this father," he said.

But a problem arose for Andrukitis and several other Ft. Stewart handlers when they returned from deployment earlier this year.

They claim the government contracted kennel, North Carolina-based K2 Solutions, adopted their canines out without their knowledge after it lost its contract with the Army.
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Army soldier pleads guilty to killing wife, unborn child in Ga.

Army soldier pleads guilty to killing wife, unborn child in Ga.
CBS News
Crimesider Staff
March 24, 2014

FORT STEWART, Ga. - An Army soldier confessed that he killed his pregnant wife by persuading her to wear handcuffs during sex and then suffocating her with a plastic bag over her head, a former Army buddy testified before a court-martial Monday.

Prosecutors at Fort Stewart used testimony alleging the confession to open their case against 22-year-old Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, who is charged with murder as well as killing an unborn child. He faces an automatic life sentence if a military judge convicts him of murder in the July 17, 2011, death of Sgt. Deirdre Aguigui.

Capt. Janae Lapir, an Army prosecutor, said in her opening statement Monday that Isaac Aguigui wanted to be free from a rocky marriage and coveted the $500,000 in life insurance and benefit payments he received from the Army after his wife was found dead in their apartment on the southeast Georgia Army post. She called him "a schemer" who tricked his wife into letting him handcuff her.

"Sgt. Aguigui never had a chance to fight back because she never saw it coming," Lapir said.
Civilian prosecutors say Aguigui used the insurance money to buy guns and bomb components for an anti-government militia group he started by recruiting other disgruntled soldiers. Aguigui pleaded guilty in a civilian court last summer to murder charges in the slayings of a former soldier and his girlfriend eight months after his wife died. Civilian prosecutors say he ordered their slayings to protect the group.

Aguigui is already serving a sentence of life without parole at a Georgia prison.
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Saluting Soldier Hargis looking forward to being new Dad

Soldier wounded in Afghanistan on road to recovery
WLWT News
By Adrianne Kelly
March 8, 2014

Hargis caught nation's attention during his salute in ICU at field hospital in Afghanistan

CINCINNATI —A Tri-State soldier wounded in Afghanistan is now on the road to recovery.

Sgt. Josh Hargis caught the nation's attention during his salute in the intensive care unit at a field hospital in Afghanistan.

Hargis' brother organized a warriors' walk to honor him and other wounded veterans.

Hargis is already looking ahead to his next big challenge: he and his wife Taylor are expecting a baby in May.
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Army Spc. John Joseph Beans Eubank killed for insurance payout?

Wife killed Ga. soldier for insurance, feds say
Morris News Service
By Jan Skutch
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The wife of a slain Fort Stewart soldier schemed with her brother to kill her husband in exchange for a $160,000 insurance policy payout, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Lillie Eubank, 39, told investigators she arranged to have her brother, Carl Evan “Cowboy” Swain, travel from Alabama to Savannah, bought a T-ball bat and selected the site for the attack at a recreation park on Fort Stewart, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Heaps Ippolito said.

The victim, Army Spc. John Joseph Beans Eubank, 29, was found badly injured Nov. 30 by another solider. He was taken to Winn Army Community Hospital, where he died from blunt force trauma.
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New Dad learning to walk on new legs

New legs, new goals for Olympia soldier
Bellingham Herald
BY ADAM ASHTON
December 29, 2013

In his earliest memory, Sgt. Luke Cifka recalls stumbling in front of his dad as a toddler figuring out how to put one foot in front of the other.

Sgt. Luke Cifka spends time with his son Wyatt. After suffering critical injuries during a patrol in Afghanistan on May 31, he’s receiving care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
COURTESY OF KAIT CIFKA

The memory came back to him this fall when he began learning to walk again. This time, he’s recovering from a blast in Afghanistan that claimed his legs above the knees.

Last month, Cifka, 26, took his first steps with prosthetic limbs, walking without toes, calves or knees.

“All the muscles are different,” he said. “It takes a minute to get used to it, but it’s all incredible.”

The soldier from Olympia is almost seven months into his recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. The Olympian first told his story in June, eight days after the May 31 blast that changed his life.

Lately, Cifka is feeling the momentum of reuniting his family and taking those steps.

“When I look back at how I was maybe just four months ago, I wasn’t able to feed myself, I was barely able to keep track of what was going on because I was under this blanket of painkillers and anesthesia,” he said. “It’s very humbling to take a measure of how far we’ve come.”
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Wounded warriors maintain fighting spirit on the mat at Fort Stewart

Wounded warriors maintain fighting spirit on the mat
DVIDS
Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond
December 16, 2013

Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond
Wounded warrior, Spc. Kristian Cedeno, demonstrates how he is able to fight and help their fellow soldiers during level 2 Army Combatives certification class.

FORT STEWART, Ga. - The Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program helps to build a soldier’s resiliency so that he can endure and bounce back from whatever situation he may find himself in. The five pillars of strength: social, emotional, family, spiritual, and physical, form an optimal foundation for recovery.

“I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, and the IED detection dog alerted me. I thought, ‘the IED is between me and the dog’, but when I turned it was right next to me. I don’t remember much except that I was hurt, but I didn’t know what happened until later,” recalls Rick Cicero, a former paratrooper who volunteers much of his time helping others recover.

He had been a military paratrooper and civilian police officer. He was on his second deployment to Afghanistan as a military contractor when he lost both his arm and his leg on his right side. His recovery took place at the Tampa Veteran’s Administration hospital.

“I went from the guy that runs into fires to the guy that’s stuck in a wheelchair—a victim waiting to happen,” he said.

After three years of recovery and coming to the realization that he can still be the guy that runs into fires, he put together an adaptive combatives program and goes around helping wounded warriors on the road to recovery.

“He cares about fellow warriors and their recovery both psychological and physical,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Perry, command sergeant major for 1st Battalion, 306th Infantry Regiment, 188th Infantry Brigade. He lost his leg in Dec 2010 while deployed with 101st Airborne Division. He said that his key to recovery was aligning himself with the right people.
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Soldier found dead at Fort Stewart served four tours

BREAKING: Officials Release ID of Soldier Found Dead on Fort Stewart
WSAV News
By Ansley Christain, Producer
Posted: Dec 13, 2013

FORT STEWART, GA
Officials with Fort Stewart have released the name of the soldier who was found dead last month.

Spc. John Joseph Beans Eubank, 29, was found dead on November 30th at Holbrook Pond.

According to spokesman Kevin Larson, Eubank was from Mt. Village, Alaska, and was a motor transport operator in the 396th Transportation Company, 87th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

He had deployed to Iraq three times and to Afghanistan once, returning from Afghanistan in May.

He joined the Army in November 2003 and arrived at Stewart-Hunter in August 2004.

Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and two non-commissioned officers from Spc. Eubank's unit identified the body 2 p.m. Dec. 1, at Winn Army Community Hospital.
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Three Fort Stewart Solders Killed In Afghanistan

DOD Identifies Army Casualties
No. 535-13
July 25, 2013

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died July 23, in Soltan Kheyl, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Killed were:

1st Lt. Jonam Russell, 25
of Cornville, Ariz.,

Sgt. Stefan M. Smith, 24
of Glennville, Ga., and

Spc. Rob L. Nichols, 24
of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Accused murder sent text about insurance money after pregnant wife killed

Investigator: Soldier's wife choked or smothered
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
July 1, 2013

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia-based soldier sent an old girlfriend a text message saying "we'll have plenty of money" a few hours before his pregnant wife died, allowing him to collect more than $500,000 in life insurance and benefit payments from the Army, a military investigator testified Monday.

Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, 22, has been charged by the Army with murdering his wife, Sgt. Deirdre Aguigui, and with causing the death of their unborn child in July 2011.
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