A First Lieutenant assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington, died in a sports, recreation and physical training mishap 21 July 2021 at 1353 local. After the Soldier failed to report for duty on 19 July, his unit tried numerous times to contact him by phone, but were unsuccessful. He mentioned to several individuals the day before that he planned to go running. His supervisor and commander notified the JBLM military police, Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and director of emergency services that he was absent, and the unit began searching for him. The Soldier’s house was checked, as well as local running routes he frequented in the JBLM and Tacoma areas. CID was able to obtain the last ping from the Soldier’s cellphone. On 20 July, several groups from the unit found his vehicle at a trailhead on the north side of Mount St. Helens, and immediately called 911. The following day, hikers in the Mount Whittier area located his body. It is suspected that the Soldier fell approximately 250 feet. His body was transported to the local county coroner’s office for examination.

Since FY16, the Army has lost an average of 12 Soldiers a year to off-duty sports, recreation and physical training mishaps. This tragedy was the sixth fatal off-duty sports, recreation and physical training mishap of FY21.

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