Fifteen Hour Standoff With Veteran--He Lived--Faces Charges?

Armed standoff suspect formally charged
Augusta Chronicle
By Abby Lennon
Staff Writer
March 18, 2016

Seaton "told deputies he had become extremely upset after finding out about the death of his best friend."

The man involved earlier this month in a 15-hour police standoff near Harlem High School, was booked into the Columbia County Detention Center Wednesday night.

Randall Edward Seaton, 27, a military veteran said to suffer post traumatic stress disorder, had been under medical evaluation for more than a week at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon. He has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property in the second degree and reckless conduct.

Seaton surrendered to deputies after he held officers at bay for more than 15 hours during the standoff that began March 6 and lasted until the early morning hours of March 7.
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U-S Army W-T-F Moments Mold At Fort Gordon Barracks

Soldier claims mold infestation at Fort Gordon barracks
WAGT 26 News
By Uyen Le
Published: January 7, 2016

The Facebook post reads, ‘Every 3 to 4 days I have to bleach my room to get rid of mold because it keeps coming back. My command said the issues has been elevated to garrison by nothing has been done except small fixes that don’t work.’

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A local soldier taking to social media, posting pictures of what he says is mold growing on his chair, pillow, and ceiling. The unnamed soldier claims his barracks at Fort Gordon has a mold infestation.

A former staff sergeant reached out NBC 26 when he was made aware of this situation. He says he’s appalled that higher command isn’t acting fast enough to address this problem.

These pictures submitted to U-S Army W-T-F Moments reads, ‘This is the fort Gordon mos-t/reclass barracks…I got my room it was covered in mold.’

“I’m appalled as a leader and I’m appalled as soldier, knowing that leaders are aware and they are not taking care of this guy,” says Aaron.
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Fort Gordon Soldier Sent Racist-Anti Veteran Tweets

Fort Gordon Soldier Accused of Racist, Anti-Veteran Tweets
WJBF
By Deon Guillory
WJBF GMA Weekend Anchor/Reporter
Posted: Sep 30, 2014

Fort Gordon, GA - An investigation is happening on Fort Gordon after a soldier is accused of tweeting out some controversial messages.

The soldier's tweets are being called racist and anti-veteran.

Fort Gordon won't identify the soldier, so we are not saying her name.

Veterans are weighing in on the matter.

Some are questioning a Fort Gordon soldier's love of the red, white and blue because of her behavior on social media.

She appears to have posted some anti-American rants on twitter.

One reads, "I ain't in the army cus I care about my country. I don't give a f about y'all."

Another reads "I don't wear my uniform anywhere except on base. Veterans annoying."

WJBF News Channel 6's Deon Guillory showed the tweets to Veterans at an American Legion Post.

"When you talk about our veterans and that you have no caring for them and this and that. To me that makes you a good candidate for ISIS," said Terry Dohman who is Vietnam Veteran.
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Fort Gordon Captain victim in murder-suicide

Murder victim was Army Reserve captain
The Augusta Chronicle
From staff reports
Monday, July 1, 2013

Capt. Angela Lee was signal officer in the Army Reserve assigned to the 15th Regimental Signal Brigade, the statement said. She worked as an operations officer for satellite communications supporting training at Fort Gordon.

Lee was killed by her by her husband, Timothy Lee, during an argument Sunday morning, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. Timothy Lee then turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

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Fort Gordon: Soldiers Not Forced to Aid Churches

Fort Gordon: Soldiers Not Forced to Aid Churches
Jul 19, 2012
The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.

Fort Gordon officials said Wednesday they do not compel soldiers to do charity work for churches.

The question was raised when a national organization, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, complained about soldiers assisting Catholic Social Services.

The group, which has also raised questions about the Augusta Mayor's Office and church prayer breakfasts, released a statement this week saying it had pressured the fort to stop the practice.

"The Freedom From Religion Foundation has stopped a violation in which soldiers were being forced to mow Catholic Charities' lawn," the Tuesday press release stated.

"FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel drafted and sent a letter on July 5 on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and also signed by American Atheists, objecting to using U.S. soldiers to support Catholic Social Services of Augusta. The Regimental Noncommissioned Officer Academy's Advanced Leader Course (ALC) at Fort Gordon, Ga., ordered soldiers to 'provide area beautification support to the Catholic Social Services.'
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Fort Campbell soldier saves man and dog from house fire

Soldier saves local man, dog from house fire
Nick Spinelli
Fort Gordon Public Affairs

A Soldier assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, took time out of his recent visit to the Augusta area to save the life of a local resident.

While driving into town to visit his girlfriend March 23, Sgt. 1st Class Kelly John Barnes assisted Brandon Edwards in escaping his burning home.

“I decided to dive down overnight, so I turned on her street at around 2 a.m.,” Barnes said. “I called her to let her know I was in her neighborhood when I saw a glow through the tree line.”

According to Barnes, when he turned the corner he saw a house on fire. He told his girlfriend to call 9-1-1, then pulled over and went up to the house.
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Sheriff: Tenn. guardsman kills Ga. deputy, self

Sheriff: Tenn. guardsman kills Ga. deputy, self
By Adrian Sainz and Dorie Turner - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Oct 23, 2011 12:04:12 EDT
ATLANTA — A guardsman who appeared to be drunk and had been firing at passing cars shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy, then committed suicide alongside a Georgia road, authorities said Sunday.

Evidence shows Christopher Michael Hodges, 26, fired 35 rounds from his M4 semiautomatic rifle, Richmond County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Gay said. Hodges and 47-year-old Deputy James D. Paugh were found dead on the side of Bobby Jones Expressway after 1 a.m. Sunday, Gay said.

Hodges was based with the Tennessee National Guard but was on temporary duty at Fort Gordon for training, said Buz Yarnell, a spokesman for the post. Yarnell said he was not aware of any problems with Hodges before the shooting, and he would not say if Hodges had previously been deployed overseas.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength told The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle that Paugh was off duty and on his way home when he saw a suspicious car on the side of the road. He was shot several times when he stopped to check on the car and apparently fired two shots from his service weapon before he was killed.
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Illness kills soldier from Fort Gordon

Sergeant dies in Iraq
Illness kills soldier from Fort Gordon

By Adam Folk
Staff Writer
Friday, Sept. 17, 2010

The Fort Gordon soldier who died Thursday in Iskandariya, Iraq, of an illness had spent most of his career in Augusta.

Sgt. John Franklin Burner III, 32, was deployed with the 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, which is part of the 35th Signal Brigade, according to Buz Yarnell, a Fort Gordon spokesman.

Burner, who was originally from Baltimore, left Fort Gordon with his unit Aug. 21 to work as a satellite systems team chief.
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Illness kills soldier from Fort Gordon

Solution for an Army epidemic at Fort Gordon

Solution for an Army epidemic Feedback...
Why is it important to give to Combined Federal Campaign?
Staff Sgt. E. Douglas Blair III
Special to The Signal
By Bonnie Heater Feedback...


When I started studying journalism in college I asked my professor what was in a great journalistic piece. He said that the trick was to take a subject and try to answer the questions that the normal person might have by the end of the article. This is no easy task with a subject like suicides in the Army and how to prevent them. The suicide rate has become an epidemic and if that word isn’t scary enough, then numbers like one Soldier every three days commits suicide should mortify you. In fact, according to the Department of Defense, the rate of suicides has increased from a record high of 128 in 2008 to a whopping 147 reported suicides in 2009 and over 170 this fiscal year. Nearly everyone has been touched in some form or fashion by suicide. Soldiers, like myself, are required to attend a class every six months or so and told how to deal with a fellow Soldier that is feeling depressed. Ask, Care and Escort have been the mantra of recent years and each Soldier is required to have an ACE card with them at all times. But what do we ask and how do we care and what if there is no one readily available to deal with a Soldier, friend, loved one, co-worker, etc. that has real feelings of suicide? The ACE card is like putting a bandage on a sucking chest wound (by the way, all chest wounds suck).

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Solution for an Army epidemic

Soldier on 1st skydive leads dying instructor down

Soldier on 1st skydive leads dying instructor down
By JEFFREY COLLINS

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Strapped to his dying instructor a few thousand feet from the ground on his first skydive, Daniel Pharr found himself floating toward a house and some trees.

The military taught the 25-year-old soldier not to panic. And TV taught him to pull the toggles on the already-deployed parachute to steer.

So Pharr grabbed the right handle and pulled to avoid the house and tugged again to miss the trees, landing safely in a field about a third of a mile from their intended landing spot.

Pharr said he wrestled out of the harness binding him to his instructor, George "Chip" Steele, and started CPR trying to save him from an apparent heart attack.

Steele was later pronounced dead, but the tragedy could have been worse: Other instructors at the skydiving school told Pharr if he had pulled the toggle too hard, the chute would have spun out of control, and he could be dead, too.

"They told me afterward that it was amazing that I knew to do that. This is my survival instinct at that point. I just kind of did what I had to do," said Pharr, taking a break Monday from his job at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Ga.

The jump was a Christmas gift from Pharr's girlfriend. The two went to Skydive Carolina in Chester on Saturday to jump from 13,500 feet in the air while attached to instructors.
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Ft. Gordon taking steps to prevent suicide among soldiers

Ft. Gordon taking steps to prevent suicide among soldiers
By Ashley Campbell acampbell@nbcaugusta.com
Story Published: Sep 9, 2008 at 8:41 PM EDT

Story Updated: Sep 9, 2008 at 8:41 PM EDT

With suicide rates at an all-time high among the U.S. Military, Ft. Gordon is taking steps to keep its soldiers from becoming part of those statistics.

According to data collected by the U.S. Military in 2007, there were 117 confirmed suicides in the armed forces. That same year, 935 soldiers attempted to kill themselves.

Chaplin Mark Thompson with Ft. Gordon has created the ACE Suicide Intervention Program. It’s designed to let troops know where they can find help if they or someone they know shows signs of suicide.

Thompson said out of the 11 suicides he's dealt with, three were soldiers.

"We continue to be up-tempo, we've been asked to do more with less...all of those things increase a higher and higher stress level. So we need to be more sensitive to that," said Thompson.

Some warning signs Thompson tells his soldiers to look for in themselves and others are withdrawal, sadness, or lack of activity.

"The number one key is depression, that constantly being down; not being able to see your way out is one of the biggest factors," said Thompson.
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