World

Investigating Threat at Fort Benning

by Hugh Askew | November 23, 2009 at 05:00 pm

680 views | 28 Recommendations | 2 comments

Few new details have emerge from news about a threating note and a package containing hollow-point bullets found at Ft. Benning, Georgia last Thursday, November 19th.

The threat came as Army General Petraeus was in town to visit the base. Ft. Benning is located near Columbus, Georgia, not far from the Alabama state line.

According to a witness on the Army Base, the note read, "tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,’ in obvious reference to the killings at Ft. Hood by alleged terrorist, Army Major Nadal Hasan.

An Army spokeswoman for the base noted that, "appropriate force protection measures are in place," while the investigation continues.

On Thursday a solider found a suspicious package and a note threatening a massacre similar to the Nov. 5 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, Elsie Jackson, post spokeswoman at Fort Benning confirmed Saturday.
The anonymous note and package -- reported by The Army Times as a box of 20 hollow-point bullets -- were found Thursday morning outside a motor pool area at Fort Benning, located near Columbus.

The discovery coincided with a visit from Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, who was in town for Officer Candidate School graduation. The threat prompted a criminal investigation and greater police presence on the Army base, the Army Times reports.

According to a witness on the scene, a box of 20 hollow-point shells and a handwritten note were found under the 197th Infantry Training Brigade.

“The note said ‘tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,’ ” a witness told Army Times. Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan is charged in the Nov. 5 shooting deaths of 13 fellow service members.

“They’re talking with anyone with a pending [Uniform Code of Military Justice] charge and people who are getting chaptered out to see if they can find out who it is,” the witness told the Army Times.

Fort Benning officials refused comment on the specifics of the letter but confirmed “an ongoing investigation into a general threat at Fort Benning.”

“A suspicious package and note were found,” Jackson said. “The soldier notified a noncommissioned officer, who alerted 911. The area was secured as is normal in these types of incidents.”

Soldiers in the unit are being questioned about the threat, the witness told the Army Times. The Kelley Hill area of Fort Benning was on lockdown for part of the day Friday, according to the witness, who noted an increase in military police patrols on the post.

The Fort Benning spokeswoman said “appropriate force protection measures are in place while an investigation is underway to determine if this is a viable threat.”