Latest news with #trainingaccident
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
101st Airborne Division soldier dies in overseas ‘training accident'
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (WKRN) — The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) announced Saturday that a soldier died as a result of a 'training accident' near Camp Croft, Hungary, earlier this week. According to the military, 24-year-old Sgt. Aaron Cox, of Mabank, Texas, was an infantryman assigned to the 'Strike' 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. Looking back as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers celebrates 250 years of service Officials said Cox died from wounds sustained in a vehicle crash on Thursday, June 5 amid preparations for the upcoming Exercise Saber Guardian 25 in Hungary. 'The loss of Sgt. Cox is a tragedy for all of us on the Strike team,' said Col. Duke Reim, commander of the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team. 'He was a strong Soldier and leader, who quickly rose through the ranks while serving. We are in direct contact with his family, for care and support that they need during this difficult time. We would like to thank our Hungarian Allies for their prompt response and support to our Soldiers.' The military said Cox joined the Army in 2021 then arrived at Fort Campbell in 2022 after completing training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Hungary was his second deployment, preceded by a deployment to Poland in 2022. Cox was a graduate of the Army Basic Leader Course and the Combat Lifesaver Course, but according to officials, he also had multiple awards and decorations, including the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Expert Infantryman Badge, and the Air Assault Badge. 101st Airborne Division welcomes new commanding general at Change of Command ceremony No additional details have been released about Thursday's fatal incident, which remains under investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
East Texas soldier dies while preparing for training exercise in Hungary
FORT CAMPBELL, KY. (KETK) — An East Texas infantryman assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky has died following a training accident near Camp Croft in Hungary on Thursday. Disturbance call at Cascades subdivision leads to officer-involved shooting in Tyler By Saturday, the 101st Airborne Division identified the man as Sgt. Aaron Cox, of Mabank, who was a member of the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team. Authorities said he died following a vehicle accident while preparing for the upcoming Exercise Saber Guardian 25 in Hungary. Courtesy of the 101st Airborne Division Cox enlisted in the Army in 2021 and was on his second deployment, having previously served in Poland in 2022. During his service, he received numerous medals including the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. 'The loss of Sgt. Cox is a tragedy for all of us on the Strike team,' Col. Duke Reim said. 'He was as a strong solider and leader who quickly rose through the ranks while serving. We are in direct contact, with his family, for care and support that they need during this difficult time.' Military officials have confirmed that the incident is under investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
101st Airborne soldier dies in training accident in Hungary
A soldier with the 101st Airborne Division died on Thursday, June 5 in a training accident in Hungary, the Army announced today. Sgt. Aaron Cox, 24, was serving as an Infantryman in the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He died after being involved in a vehicle accident in Hungary while helping prepare for a multi-national military exercise, the Army said on Saturday, June 7. 'The loss of Sgt. Cox is a tragedy for all of us on the Strike team,' Col. Duke Reim, commander of the 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, said in the Army's announcement. 'He was a strong soldier and leader, who quickly rose through the ranks while serving. We are in direct contact with his family, for care and support that they need during this difficult time. We would like to thank our Hungarian allies for their prompt response and support to our soldiers.' The Army did not provide additional details on the accident but did say that it is under investigation. Cox's death came during preparation for the Saber Guardian 2025 exercise. The NATO exercise, set to run June 9-24, includes live-fire drills and motorized assault training, and will be held in Germany and Romania, in addition to Hungary. Cox, from Mabank, Texas, enlisted in 2021 and was assigned to Fort Campbell a year later. He also previously deployed to Poland that same year. Per the Army, his decorations include the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Air Assault Badge, among others. The 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division deployed to Europe this spring as part of U.S. rotations in support of the NATO mission. The troops replaced soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military's new top enlisted leader Veterans receiving disability payments might have been underpaid, IG finds Guam barracks conditions are 'baffling,' Navy admiral says in email Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
ABC News
21-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Streets to be named after Kapooka Tragedy victims
On May 21, 1945, Geoffrey Partridge and 25 other soldiers died in Australia's worst training accident just months before the end of World War II. The army engineers, known as sappers, were training in a bunker at the Kapooka Army Base near Wagga Wagga when an explosion killed all but one. Eighty years on, Sapper Partridge's only sister Shirley Booth remembers it like it was yesterday. "My father turned up [at my school] in tears and I had never seen my father cry," she said. "The headmaster took him inside, and then the headmaster had come out and told me that my brother had been killed." Ms Booth, who was 12, said the news didn't fully sink in at first, but when it did, it hit home hard. Years later, she learnt her 18-year-old brother had seen the dentist that morning and was told he didn't have to return to training, but he did anyway. "He said, 'No, I want to keep up with my training', and that was where he walked from Kapooka down to where the accident actually happened," Ms Booth said. Within a couple of hours, her brother was dead. She said it was only in the 1980s when she obtained records of the incident from the army that she first learnt who had died alongside her brother. Cherie Benn's uncle Jack Nixon was another killed in the blast. Her father would say his brother was killed in the war. It wasn't until 50 years after the tragedy in 1995 that she learned more about what happened that day, and she first attended a commemoration in the paddock where the explosion took place. Ex-military investigator Andrew Johnston served at Kapooka in the 1990s and never heard of the tragedy. Then one day, he stumbled on an internet article about tragedies on home soil. "Having been a soldier that raised a bit of interest to me," Mr Johnston said. He decided to write a book on the incident to help bring closure to families of the victims and ensure they were remembered. In 1945, Kapooka was the training centre for all army engineers. Mr Johnston said the army had devised a system to conduct military exercises with explosions above ground while lessons were held underground. On May 21, the soldiers had been learning about explosives and detonators. "The instructor, Jack Pomeroy, was giving instruction to his trainees in the dugout with him, and at the time there were high explosives in a box in the corner," he said. "And then, unfortunately, Corporal Bill Cousins came in with the detonators and something happened in which the detonators sparked and set off the high explosives. "As a result, everything went up and collapsed the dugout and killed 26 innocent soldiers." Mr Johnston said the sole survivor, Sapper Allan Bartlett, was looking away when the incident happened, and the exact circumstances around how the tragedy unfoldeded remain a mystery. Following the tragedy, the victims received the nation's largest military burial with thousands of people turning out to pay their respects, and then Mr Johnston said Australia effectively forgot. In addition to the annual memorial service for the tragedy, this year for the 80th anniversary, the Wagga Wagga City Council will unveil streets named in honour of the Kapooka tragedy victims. The School of Military Engineering, now based in Sydney, will send a large contingent of officers. Deputy head of the Royal Australian Engineers, Lieutenant Corporal Thomas Whale, said it was important the school's future leaders learnt about the tragic day. "To ensure they understand this important part of our culture and understand the gravity of their positions and the fact that training incidents like this can happen," he said. Lieutenant Corporal Whale said wartime deaths on home soil "don't quite" get the same recognition as those overseas, but the "damage is done either way". "Whether you die in service overseas or you die preparing for war, it's the same death, it affects the family of that person just the same as the death overseas," he said. "Potentially, we need to look at ways to make sure that we commemorate it in the same manner." It comes as the Royal Australian Engineers Association of Victoria pushes for a national memorial to all those killed or injured in training accidents on home soil. "There are many men and women who do suffer from accidents, incidents and even death on home soil," association president Don Hughes said. "I think the recognition of that is becoming greater and it's well deserved.
