DENVER (AP) – An Army vehicle took the wrong road in the dark and was making a U-turn when it tumbled 250 feet off a cliff at a Colorado training range last year, killing one soldier and injuring five, according to a recently released investigative report.
The soldier who died had an unspecified medical condition at the time of the February 2015 crash at Fort Carson, and a physician assistant had recommended that he not go on the training exercise, investigators said.
It wasn’t clear from the report whether Staff Sgt. Justin Holt’s condition was a factor in his death or in the crash of the Stryker fighting vehicle. He was the commander of the vehicle but wasn’t driving, the report said.
The Army provided the report to The Associated Press Monday, more than a year after the AP requested it under the Freedom of Information Act. Previously, the Army had released few details other than Holt’s identity.
Holt, of Bogata, Texas, had not been sleeping well because of shoulder pain, the report said, but investigators didn’t say if that was related to his medical condition. He suffered multiple blunt force trauma to his head, chest and torso in the crash, investigators said.