Fort Wainwright

Spc. Lucas Frantz, 22, was killed on Oct. 18, 2005 by a sniper in Mosul, Iraq. Frantz, a native of Tonganoxie, Kan., served as an infantryman and Stryker vehicle commander with Company A, 1st battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade based at Fort Wainwright.

An Army combat medic assigned to a Fort Wainwright hospital died in Fairbanks Monday after collapsing during physical training, according to U.S. Army Alaska officials. Sgt. 1st Class Bryan H. Hays, 40, was taken from Melaven Gym after being treated at the scene to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Hays, born in Bossier, La., entered active-duty Army service in 1999. He most recently served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of emergency services at Bassett Army Community Hospital, and had previously served two tours of duty in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

by The Associated Press Tuesday, April 27, 2010 FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska -- Smokejumpers have started training in preparation for Alaska's fire season. The state had 527 wildfires last year, burning almost 3 million acres. Helping to fight them are the smokejumpers -- federally funded firefighters who drop hundreds of feet to suppress wildland fires with minimal tools. At practice near Fort Wainwright on Monday, three planeloads of smokejumpers parachuted onto an open patch of dead grass.

Spc. Dustin James Harris, 21, was killed April 6, 2006. Harris was on foot patrol in Beiji, Iraq, about 150 miles north of Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device detonated nearby.                                                                                   Harris, a native of Patten, Me., served as a motor transport operator assigned to the 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, 172nd Stryker Brigade based at Fort Wainwright.

Spc. Aaron P. Latimer, 26, died May 9, 2006, while on duty in Mosul, Iraq. His death was non-combat related, and the U.S. Army conducted an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. Latimer, a native of Ennis, Tex., was a human resources specialist assigned to the 562nd Engineering Company, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Wainwright.

by Channel 2 News Staff Wednesday, November 26, 2008 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A soldier with Alaska's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team has died in Iraq. Army officials say 1st Lt. William Jernigan, a military intelligence officer, died of injuries sustained by a non-combat related incident at his base in Baqubah. He is the third Stryker, based out of Fort Wainwright, to die in Iraq since the brigade's September deployment. Jernigan's family has been notified.

An insurgent attack in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan on Sept. 9 has left one Stryker Brigade soldier dead and another wounded. Pfc. Brett Everett Wood, 19, assigned to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright died of injuries sustained during the attack on his unit, which an involved an improvised explosive device, while on a dismounted patrol according to the U.S. Army. Wood, of Spencer, Ind., was assigned to the 1 st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25 th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright where he served as an infantryman.

An Alaska-based soldier was killed in an attack in Afghanistan. Army officials say 20-year-old Pfc. Douglas Leonard Cordo, from Kingston, NY, was killed by an improvised explosive device while on mounted patrol in a village in Afghanistan's Zabul province. Cordo was driving the stryker vehicle at the time. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack. Military officials say Cordo joined the army in March 2010... and arrived in Alaska in July of that year when he was stationed at Fort Wainwright.

A spokeswoman for Chen's parents said investigators told them that on the day of his death, he was forced to crawl 100 meters on gravel with his equipment on as his comrades threw rocks at him. The Army said its delegation briefed the family Wednesday. It didn't disclose details. New York City community activists alleged that Chen was mistreated shortly before he committed suicide in an Afghanistan guardhouse. His body was found Oct. 3. This week's Lunchbox visits a place that's only open for lunch: Sweet Basil Cafe, on Northern Lights near Spenard.

On Friday, the leaders of U.S. Army Alaska held a listening session in a classroom at the UAA Fine Arts building. They listened to those who feared the effects of the military's 2011 Budget Control Act, which will reduce the total number of soldiers from 570,000 to 490,000. According to the military, the pending cuts nothing to do with the base realignment closure or sequestration. "What we're trying to do right now is be as transparent as possible in our efforts to reduce our force structure," US Army Alaska Commander Michael Garrett said.