US military bases are fortresses that guard against external threats. But what happens when the threat comes from within?

CNN

a day ago

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Fort Stewart in Georgia houses the US Army's vaunted 3rd Infantry Division, a premier fighting force roughly 20,000 soldiers strong.
It was at the headquarters of the division's 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, described by the Army as its 'most lethal and fit' armored brigade combat unit — formidably equipped with tanks and modern artillery systems — where five soldiers were wounded Wednesday when authorities said a 28-year-old active-duty sergeant pulled out a personal weapon and opened fire.
The latest shooting at a US military fortress long accustomed to guarding against external threats demonstrates that no amount of physical security can totally protect soldiers when the threat comes from within, according to experts.
'I just don't think there's any way to ever prepare for every single possible insider threat,' said Robert Capovilla, a former military prosecutor and partner in a law firm representing current and former service members.
Still, the violence has renewed concerns about the safety of American service members at facilities where they live, train and work. And, when coupled with other high-profile shootings at military bases in recent years, the rarity of such incidents offers little solace to the victims and families of soldiers hurt or killed by other service members.
For Nichole Hillman — whose husband Nathan, an Army sergeant with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, was shot and killed by another soldier at Fort Stewart in 2022 — the latest shooting was 'terrifying and completely heartbreaking.' Nathan Hillman and the alleged gunman both served in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, nicknamed the Spartan Brigade.
'I was sick over it, as it brought back so much pain and fear, and had me reliving one of the absolute worst days of my life,' she told CNN via Facebook Messenger.
'Our soldiers shouldn't have to fear going to work. They should be able to know 100% for a fact they are safe.'
The military has mandated active shooter and 'insider threat' training following a series of deadly mass shootings at American bases, including one in 2009 at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, in which 13 people and an unborn child were killed and more than 30 others wounded.
At Fort Stewart on Wednesday, authorities said, unarmed soldiers ran toward the sound of gunshots and tackled the suspect, subduing him and halting a shooting Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said could have been much more severe were it not for their bravery.
'Under duress and fire, they ran into battle to the sound of the gunfire, took down the assailant, and then took care of their comrades. And that made all the difference,' Driscoll said Thursday at Fort Stewart, where he awarded six soldiers the Meritorious Service Medal for their actions.
'We commit to you that anything we discover during the investigation that can make this base and other bases like it safer, we will act on as quickly as possible,' Driscoll added.
'We are constantly looking at our security protocols at all of our bases … We absolutely will want to learn from this investigation. We do not want something like this to ever happen again at an Army base.'
Last year, Fort Stewart's military police simulated an active shooter and hostage rescue exercise. The drills have been routine at US military bases for years and include topics such as what to do before, during and after an active shooter incident. On Wednesday, Fort Stewart was briefly put on lockdown.
'The fact that the base was put on lockdown so quickly shows that the installation had practiced this kind of an event, and they knew what procedures they needed to implement in order to minimize the impact of this active shooter incident,' said Cedric Leighton, a retired Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst. 'The response clearly had been practiced.'
The motive for the shooting was not known. A law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN the shooter, identified as Quornelius Samentrio Radford, had a disagreement with one of the victims on Tuesday. He followed that coworker to a maintenance area and shot him in the chest before shooting four others on Wednesday. It's unclear what the disagreement was about.
Law enforcement responded at 10:56 a.m. ET, according to a Facebook post from Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield. Less than 10 minutes later, the base was locked down. Emergency personnel were sent to treat the victims at 11:09 a.m., the post said.
The unarmed soldiers who intervened 'prevented further casualties' by tackling Radford, allowing police to arrest him, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, Fort Stewart's senior commander.
The soldiers handled the scene like a 'battle drill,' according to Lt. Col. Mike Sanford, the commander of the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion.
Active shooter training instructs soldiers on what to do before, during, and after shootings — including helping others evacuate, not moving the wounded, creating barricades and, as a last resort, using 'whatever means possible to overpower the subject to save further lives.'
Military bases have strict regulations on the possession and storage of personal weapons.
'I'm not sure by allowing soldiers to carry their personal firearms with them in a professional capacity while they're doing their jobs prevents what happened at Fort Stewart,' Capovilla said.
'Our military personnel that live and work on military installations, by and large, I would consider them to be in highly secure and safe facilities.'
The November 5, 2009, shooting at Fort Hood by an Army psychiatrist with radical Islamist beliefs forced the military to evaluate 'not just the tactical-level response that happened at Fort Hood specifically, but also the processes and systems and policies that were in place for the Department of Defense as a whole that could have led to what happened,' Mary 'Chris' Frels, deputy provost marshal for US Army North said one year after the shooting.
After Fort Hood, Frels said, the military reevaluated its risk assessment process to consider both internal and external threats.
A huge part of the training involves teaching service members to identify behaviors in colleagues who may be spiraling — which could be early warning signs of a potential 'insider threat.' The risk indicators range from declining performance rating to demotions, from threats of violence to suicidal ideation to criminal behavior.
Authorities this week would not speculate about Radford's motives. He had not deployed to a combat zone and had no known behavioral incidents on his military record, Lubas said.
The general acknowledged Radford was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in May. Radford's chain of command was unaware of the arrest prior to Wednesday's shooting, Lubas said.
The suspect's father, Eddie Radford, told The New York Times he had not noticed unusual behavior by his son recently. He did not know what might have motivated the shooting, but said his son had complained about racism at Fort Stewart and had been seeking a transfer, according to the Times, which did not cite any specifics. CNN has reached out to Eddie Radford for more information.
Fort Stewart declined to comment on the racism allegation and whether Radford had requested a transfer. 'The circumstances that led to the events today are currently under investigation,' a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division told CNN.
Authorities are unsure how Radford got his personal firearm through the base's high security before carrying out the shooting, although personnel with authorized access are typically not searched en masse unless an installation has increased its security posture in response to potential threats. Carrying personal firearms on base is typically prohibited.
'From a company, battalion, or brigade commander's perspective, I think it would be very hard to enforce good order and discipline if the soldiers were allowed to carry their personal weapons with them at all times,' Capovilla said.
Radford had texted his relatives at least 20 minutes before he began shooting, his uncle, Joe Mitchell, told CNN affiliate WTLV: 'I just want y'all to know that I love y'all, and I tried my hardest to be the best I could be.'
Radford's military career began in 2018. Around the same time, he started being bullied over his stutter, two former coworkers told NBC. Sneh Patel, an attorney who represented Radford during his DUI case, also confirmed to CNN that Radford 'has a stuttering condition,' although he wouldn't disclose much more due to client-attorney privilege, he said.
'He got bullied a lot,' Sgt. Cameron Barrett, who became friends with Radford during an Army training program, told NBC. 'It was very bad to the point where he could barely talk.'
In a video training course by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which handles security and risk management across the Defense Department workforce, the narrator warns: 'It is up to all of us to be aware of potential signs and report what we see. You are your organization's first line of defense against someone who could do harm.'
CNN's Amanda Musa, Dakin Andone, Alisha Ebrahimji and Danya Gainor contributed to this report.