Chapter 9 - The Trial
Major Thomas Hargrove's court-martial began in April.
It was held in a military courtroom at Fort Sill. It was presided over by a military judge named Colonel Helena Vasquez. It lasted eleven days.
The prosecution called fourteen witnesses.
The first was Staff Sergeant Marcus Webb. He testified for two hours. He described the north gate. He described the phone call from Hargrove. He described the moment when he had opened the gate and let two civilian trucks through. He described the moment when the military police had arrived at the range control office and found him deleting the access log.
He was cross-examined for ninety minutes by Hargrove's defense attorney. The defense attorney tried to make him look like a man who was trying to save himself by blaming a major.
Webb did not take the bait.
"Staff Sergeant Webb," the defense attorney said, "is it not true that you opened the gate because you wanted to?"
"No, sir," Webb said. "I opened the gate because Major Hargrove told me to."
"Is it not true that you have been reprimanded twice for failing to follow procedures?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is it not true that you were told, on two separate occasions, that if you continued to fail to follow procedures, you would be removed from the range control office?"
"Yes, sir."
"And yet you expect this court to believe that on the morning of the incident, you were simply following orders?"
"Yes, sir. Because I was. Major Hargrove was the executive officer of the battalion. When the executive officer tells a staff sergeant to open a gate, the staff sergeant opens the gate. That is not a defense. That is a fact. And the fact is that I opened the gate. And the fact is that I am going to pay for opening the gate for the rest of my life. But the fact is also that Major Hargrove is the officer who told me to open it. And Major Hargrove is the officer who accepted money from those hunters. And Major Hargrove is the officer who is sitting at that table."
The courtroom was silent.
"No further questions," the defense attorney said.
The second witness was Lieutenant Colonel Marguerite Okafor.
She testified for two hours. She described the range camera feed. She described the moment when she had walked forward and asked the question that mattered. She described the moment when she had seen two civilian vehicles at grid 7-4-2 and a scheduled volley at grid 7-4-1.
She described the moment when she had realized that eleven people were about to die.
She was cross-examined for forty-five minutes by the defense attorney. He tried to make her look like a woman who had been biased against Hargrove from the start. He tried to make her look like a woman who had been trying to make a name for herself.
She did not take the bait.
"Lieutenant Colonel Okafor," the defense attorney said, "is it not true that you had never met Major Hargrove before the morning of the incident?"
"No, sir. It is not true."
"Have you met him?"
"I have met him. I met him at the pre-exercise briefing at 07:00 on the morning of the incident. I shook his hand. I listened to him brief the exercise. I noted, at the time, that he seemed nervous."
"Nervous?"
"Nervous. He kept looking at the north gate. He kept looking at his phone. He kept looking at Colonel Ross. I noted it in my pre-exercise report. The report is in evidence."
The courtroom was silent.
"No further questions," the defense attorney said.
The third witness was Staff Sergeant Brooke Carter.
She testified for three hours. She described the morning of the incident. She described the range camera feed. She described the moment when she had called a ceasefire. She described the moment when Colonel Ross had ripped the red flag out of her hand. She described the moment when she had said, "Sir, there are people inside the boundary."
She described the moment when Specialist Owen Miller had held up his tablet.
She described the moment when Lieutenant Colonel Okafor had asked the question.
She was cross-examined for two hours by the defense attorney. He tried to make her look like a soldier who had overreacted. He tried to make her look like a soldier who had been looking for a reason to halt the exercise. He tried to make her look like a soldier who had been trying to make a name for herself.
She did not take the bait.
"Staff Sergeant Carter," the defense attorney said, "is it not true that you had a personal grudge against Colonel Ross?"
"No, sir."
"Is it not true that you had complained about him to your chain of command?"
"I had submitted two memos to my chain of command about range safety procedures, sir. Neither memo was about Colonel Ross. Both memos were about the procedures themselves."
"Is it not true that you had been counseled about your attitude?"
"I had been counseled about my tone, sir. Not my facts."
"Is it not true that you had halted a live-fire exercise in front of a congressional delegation and a public affairs officer, causing significant embarrassment to the battalion and to its commander?"
"Yes, sir. I had."
"Why?"
Brooke looked at him.
"Because, sir, I am a staff sergeant in the United States Army. I have been a soldier for twelve years. And the Army taught me that a range safety NCO has one job. And the job is to stop the world if the world is about to hurt somebody. If I had not stopped the world, ten people would be dead. So I stopped the world."
The courtroom was silent.
"No further questions," the defense attorney said.
—
Major Thomas Hargrove was convicted on all counts.
He was convicted of dereliction of duty, of accepting a bribe, of obstruction of justice, and of reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. He was dismissed from the Army. He was required to forfeit all pay and allowances. He was ordered to pay restitution to the United States government in the amount of forty-two thousand dollars.
He appealed. The appeal was denied.
He is currently serving his sentence at a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. He will be eligible for parole in 2034.
Colonel Evan Ross was not charged with a crime. He was retired from the Army at the rank of lieutenant colonel, reduced from colonel, and he lives in Florida.
Staff Sergeant Marcus Webb was charged with dereliction of duty and with failing to follow range safety procedures. He pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to a written reprimand, a forfeiture of one month's pay, and a reassignment to a position that did not involve access to a live-fire range. He is currently a staff sergeant in the Army's logistics branch at Fort Hood, Texas. He has, by all accounts, been a model soldier since his reassignment. He has told his friends that he thinks about the morning of the incident every day. He has told his friends that he is grateful, every day, that Staff Sergeant Carter called a ceasefire.
He has never met Staff Sergeant Carter. He has never spoken to her. He has, on three separate occasions, tried to write her a letter. He has never sent any of them. He has told his friends that he does not know what to say. He has told his friends that he is not sure she would want to hear from him. He has told his friends that he is going to try again next year.
He will try again next year.
He will keep trying until he sends one.
And when he sends one, she will read it.
May you like
She will read it because she is a staff sergeant. And because a staff sergeant reads the letters that come from the soldiers she has saved. Even the ones who do not think they deserve to be saved.
Especially the ones who do not think they deserve to be saved.
