An Army trainee assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment died while undergoing basic combat training this past week at Fort Jackson, the Army announced Sunday.
The soldier was “found deceased during training” on Thursday, April 24, according to an Army release. The soldier was not immediately identified, citing Army policy to withhold the name of the deceased until the Army Casualty Assistance Office notifies the next of kin. The Army’s notice also did not say if the death was under investigation.
“Losing a teammate affects us all,” Maj. Gen. Daryl O. Hood, the commander of Fort Jackson, said in the Army’s statement on the soldier’s death. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their family as well as the cadre and fellow trainees.”
Fort Jackson, located in Columbia, South Carolina, is one of the main training sites for U.S. Army recruits, with tens of thousands of people going through basic combat training each year at the fort. The Army said that the base is currently in a 48-hour training stand down in the wake of the trainee’s death.
The trainee who died last week is the second Army trainee to die during basic combat training at the base in a year. Last spring one trainee assigned to 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment died after collapsing during the “pickup” phase of training and being taken to a hospital.