3 relieved of leadership roles over Guard death

[unhappycamper]

3 relieved of leadership roles over Guard death
By Ryan Lenz - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 18, 2007 7:00:30 EDT

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Army has relieved three soldiers of leadership roles in a unit for wounded veterans at Fort Knox over last month’s death of an Indiana guardsman in their care, military officials said Wednesday.

A battalion commander, company commander and platoon sergeant have been removed from the unit as an investigation continues into the death of Sgt. Gerald Cassidy, said Maj. Gen. Robert Williams, commander of the Army post outside Louisville, Ky.

“I have lost confidence in their leadership abilities,” Williams said. The military did not identify the soldiers.

Cassidy, 32, had been wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq in June 2006 and arrived at Fort Knox in April 2007 with blinding headaches, memory and hearing loss and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was found alone in his room Sept. 21, slumped in a chair.

An autopsy requested by his family determined Cassidy had been dead for hours before being found and may have been unconscious for days before that.

Under Army rules, each injured service member in such a unit is assigned a doctor, a nurse care manager and a squad leader to manage treatment. Military officials have declined to discuss details of Cassidy’s death.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_3relieved_071018/