Murder charges may spur military to revise soldier screenings

An Army spokeswoman said Saturday the murder charges against a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier accused of killing three Afghan civilians could lead the military to examine its screening of soldiers.

Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, was charged Friday with premeditated murder in the slayings of the civilians, which allegedly occurred earlier this year while his unit was assigned to the remote Kandahar province of Afghanistan. He also is charged with assaulting a fellow soldier.

If found guilty of the slayings, Morlock could face the death penalty.

Morlock, who was sent on his first deployment in July, had a history of U.S. criminal charges.

Two years ago, his wife sought a domestic-violence protective order against him. Last year, he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct and found guilty of the latter charge. When he was 15, Morlock was charged in Alaska with leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury or death and received a deferred prosecution.

Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a spokeswoman at Lewis-McChord, said the allegations against Morlock shouldn't be taken as a reflection on the soldiers in Afghanistan.

"His unit has done an admirable job in Afghanistan. They've been an important part of the fight there, and I don't think we can transfer this soldier's actions as a reflection. In the general population, a certain part of it is criminal. That happens in the Army sometimes, too," Parker said.

But Parker said the Army is a "learning organization" that would, if necessary, make changes to its screening of soldiers sent to combat zones.

"If we were to see something needed to be tightened up as far as screening, we certainly would. We constantly examine our actions and processes to avoid something like this. Because obviously this is a terrible case, it's hard for me to say, 'X happened, so we're going to do Y.' The Army tends to examine itself, see where corrections are needed and make corrections," she said.

Morlock, from Wasilla, Alaska, is the first soldier to be sent back to the U.S. to face charges in what the military has said was an investigation involving murder, illegal drugs and conspiracy. He joined the military in 2006 and trained at Ft. Benning, Ga., before reporting to Lewis-McChord in December 2006. He was assigned to the B Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

The Army investigation of Morlock's unit was disclosed last month by CNN, which cited anonymous military sources saying as many as 10 soldiers could be implicated.

Since the 3,800 soldiers of the Stryker Brigade deployed to Afghanistan last summer, 36 have died, including 33 from combat-related deaths, according to Parker.

Morlock posted photos and stories about his Afghanistan experience on his Facebook page, including descriptions of near-misses with improvised explosive devices.

A sister and friend of Morlock, reached through their Facebook accounts, insisted he is innocent.

"My brother is an amazing person who has done nothing but serve this (expletive) country... " the sister wrote in a Facebook message to a reporter.

Staff reporters Kristi Heim and Jim Brunner contributed to this report.