Update: This article was updated Aug. 13 after Fort Sill Public Affairs confirmed Hardin was a staff sergeant serving in a support role and was not a drill sergeant. Fort Sill said his duties did not involve working with trainees. A Fort Sill Soldier whose child sexual abuse investigation involved U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division…
An Army major already facing felony child-pornography and methamphetamine charges in Missouri is scheduled to appear at Fort Leavenworth next Tuesday for an arraignment and motions hearing in a separate Army general court-martial involving child pornography, controlled substances and other alleged misconduct. MAJ Christopher C. Piasecki is scheduled to appear before an Army court Aug….
Staff Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton’s funeral was held Saturday, just 20 days after he died during a military operation in Iraq. But one photograph of his young daughter looking at an image of her father holding her captures something the ceremonies and headlines cannot. HOPE MILLS, N.C. — Two days ago, the family of Staff…
On April 11, 2023, Air Force Office of Special Investigations agents met Senior Master Sgt. Shakib S. Rahman inside his first sergeant’s office at his workplace. The agents arrived prepared to seize electronic devices they believed could contain photographs, videos and other evidence connected to years of alleged sexual abuse involving Rahman’s stepdaughter. Investigators were…
Army prosecutors said WO1 Dawson J. Van Manen bound his wife with duct tape and recorded himself raping her, then concealed his identity on Bumble before attacking another woman. Investigators believe there may be additional victims. Before he posed as “2nd Lt. David Johnson” on Bumble, WO1 Dawson J. Van Manen had already threatened to…
What began with a 911 call from behind a locked bathroom door would eventually place a Fort Stewart intelligence officer before a military court, exposing a domestic-violence case documented across Chatham County and Army records. First Lt. Benjamin S. Wasco was a Norwich University graduate, former college athlete and competitive endurance runner serving with the…
Kurdish officials promoted the projects as carrying $110 billion in potential value. What they did not publicly disclose was how much would become corporate profit, how much would reach regional or federal governments, and how much would ultimately benefit the Iraqi people who legally own the resources. WASHINGTON, D.C. — Iraq’s oil and gas belong…
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Mason Wollersheim’s fall from Special Forces staff sergeant to military prisoner was already dramatic. Then he tried to climb his way out. A photograph published on social media in May 2025 appeared to show Wollersheim folded over the top of a chain-link fence at Fort Leavenworth, his body caught among coils…
Newly obtained military court records provide the first detailed public account of the crimes that led to the court-martial and imprisonment of former U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Allen G. VanEtten, a former member of the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team. The records, obtained by The Salty Soldier, reveal that VanEtten met a 15-year-old…
A self-described Army spouse has built part of her online adult brand around Army uniform pieces, apparent sergeant insignia, promotion terminology and references to military communities in the National Capital Region. The material reviewed by The Salty Soldier includes sexualized use of an Army-style service uniform shirt displaying apparent NCO rank, camouflage uniform items and…
