The US military is preparing to execute four soldiers.
The US military is preparing to execute four soldiers.
2026-06-07
Shafaq News – Washington
The U.S. Army is working on a plan to carry out the executions of four death row inmates within the U.S. military, should the U.S. president order their execution, according to an internal planning document seen by ABC News.
According to the report, carrying out this step would make it the first time the US military has executed convicted American military personnel in more than half a century.
According to the internal document released last February, entitled “Operation Decisive Justice,” the plan directs military officials to coordinate with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer prisoners sentenced to death from the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the federal execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, the facility where the Justice Department carried out a series of federal executions during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The U.S. military has not executed a service member since 1961, when Private Bravo John Bennett was executed after being convicted of raping and attempting to murder an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the military conducts execution-related plans and drills, similar to other potential missions, as part of its routine preparations to deal with any orders that may come from the White House.
She added that “the exercises related to this operation have been conducted regularly for 20 years, and are part of the ongoing planning in case the president approves the execution,” while emphasizing that the army has not yet received any specific order from the president.
According to the plan, the military judiciary can issue death sentences, but their execution requires the president’s approval. However, the White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether Trump intends to proceed with any executions of convicted military personnel, and referred inquiries to the military.
The plan also includes how the military will handle public communications related to any execution, including arrangements for media attendance.
During his second term, President Trump reinstated the use of the death penalty at the federal level, issuing an executive order on his first day in office directing the Justice Department to resume the application of the death penalty more broadly, after it had been suspended during the administration of former President Joe Biden.
During former President Barack Obama’s term, no federal executions were carried out, and the death sentence of military prisoner Dwight Loving was commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
In May, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth awarded the Purple Heart to nine veterans of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who were injured in the 2003 attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, carried out by former soldier Hasan Abak, who was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder after throwing grenades at tents and shooting at soldiers.
The four soldiers currently sentenced to death face a certain fate if the plan is activated; they are:
1- Nidal Hasan: The former major who was convicted of the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, which killed 13 people and injured 32 others.
2. Ronald Gray: A former member of the 82nd Parachute Regiment, he was convicted in 1988 on 14 counts, including three counts of premeditated murder and three counts of rape. Former President George W. Bush approved his execution in 2008, but it was halted by a federal judge. He is currently the only person whose death warrant was signed by a sitting U.S. president.
3- Timothy Hennessy: The former sergeant first class, who was convicted of raping and murdering a woman and her two daughters. After his conviction was overturned and he was acquitted in a civilian trial, the case was later reopened using new DNA evidence that was not previously available, leading to his recall to active duty, trial before a military court, and sentencing to death.
4- Hasan Akbar: A former combat engineer sergeant who was convicted of murder and attempted murder after he threw grenades and opened fire on his fellow American soldiers in their tents at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in 2003, prior to the invasion of Iraq.
It is worth noting that the US Department of Justice announced last April additional steps to accelerate the pace of executions, including expanding the approved methods of execution to include execution by firing squad.
shafaq.com
