Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt, the Fort Lewis soldier whose 16-year-old girlfriend died after an overdose of prescription pills in his barracks room, will face involuntary manslaughter and drug-related charges in a general court martial, the post announced Friday.

Bennitt faces a maximum of 82 years in prison, reduction in rank, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the Army if convicted. A date for his court martial has not been set.

The charges stem from the death of Leah King, a student at Lakes High School, in Bennitt’s barracks room Feb. 15 on North Fort Lewis. King and a friend, Trashauna Yoacham, overdosed on a combination of the painkiller oxymorphone and the anxiety pill Xanax.

Bennitt, a 19-year-old Indiana native, is facing two specifications of involuntary manslaughter. The government alleges Bennitt purchased oxymorphone and gave it to King, whom he knew had a history of substance abuse, and allowed her to mix the painkiller with Xanax.

Bennitt also faces charges he distributed oxymorphome, oxycodone, marijuana, Xanax. He is also charged with the use of oxycodone, oxymorphone, marijuana and cocaine.

And he faces a charge of conspiracy to use a controlled substance, in which prosecutors say he asked King to arrange a meeting with the drug dealer that sold him the lethal dose of Xanax and oxymorphone.

Bennitt, a heavy equipment operator with the 617th Engineer Company, 864th Engineer Battalion, is in confinement at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor.

Government attorneys say Bennitt purchased drugs from Lakewood and sold them to fellow soldiers.

Investigators testified in May and June during Bennitt's Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding, that the soldier purchased the prescription pills the night of Feb. 14 and returned to North Fort Lewis with the two teenagers. Shortly after they arrived, Bennitt crushed and snorted a prescription pill. The girls, who were in his bathroom styling their hair, crushed and snorted a pill of oxymorpohone.

He left his room at about midnight to talk to a friend. The girls were asleep when he returned, so he slept next to them when he returned, according to the investigation. He awoke at 3 a.m. and discovered King with froth around her mouth, pale skin and blue lips.

King was pronounced dead at the scene. Yoacham was rushed to Madigan Army Medical Center, where she later recovered.

Bennitt’s Article 32 hearing closed in May but was reopened almost a month later when Yoacham agreed to testify. She told the court the teens snorted the pills hours before they went to the barracks and later inhaled more without his knowledge.

"Those drugs were carried in by Leah," Yoacham’s attorney, Bradley Johnson, said at the time. "Pvt. Bennitt did not give her drugs."

Prosecutors said Yoacham’s story had holes and that she wasn’t in the right state of mind to remember everything from that night.

Maj. Rebecca Connally, the investigating officer, apparently didn’t believe all of Yoacham’s testimony, according to a redacted version of her report released by the Fort Lewis public affairs office.

"I considered Ms. (redacted)'s entire testimony and weighed it against other witnesses or evidence that contradicted her recollection and accounts," Connally wrote. "I found the weight of the evidence that contradicted her testimony to be more credible and believable."

Connally’s role as investigating officer was to review the evidence and testimony and made a recommendation on what charges Bennitt would face. Brig. Gen. Jeff Mathis, the I Corps rear detachment commander, reviewed Connally’s report and had the final say.

Officials at Madigan Army Medical Center hope to break ground soon on a center specializing in women’s and children’s medicine, the largest expansion of the Fort Lewis hospital since 1992.

The $205 million facility would be the first of its kind in the military and one of just a few such centers that would focus on care for both women and children anywhere in the United States, the chairman of Madigan's obstetrics and gynecology department said this week.

"The No. 1 business at (Department of Defense) hospitals is deliveries and all the care related to that," Col. Peter Nielsen said. "So the idea of putting in what place what women need and what children need – I thought it just made sense."

The new facility would measure about 140,000 square feet cost $205 million. It would provide an array of services, including obstetrics, women’s oncology, gynecology, breast disease, infertility, endocrinology, a neonatal intensive care unit and child psychiatry.

And by moving some services to the new building, it would create about 70,000 square feet of floor space in the main hospital, said Michael Carico, Madigan’s chief of operation and maintenance.

The new building – the largest addition to Madigan since the new hospital building opened in 1992 – is still several years away. Pentagon officials are still finalizing the 2010 fiscal year budget; included in it is a $2 million earmark U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., added to fund the planning and design.

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Alyson McWherter walked back to her barracks room and sank into her bed. She was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. Her feet throbbed. Her shoulders ached. She hadn't slept well in days.

Three days earlier, a fellow ROTC cadet died during night training; she was part of the search team sent into the forests of Fort Lewis early in the morning to search for him.

Two days of land-navigation exercises followed, one at day at one at night. She and other cadets were sent into the forest with a map and compass and told to find a series of checkpoints. The pressure was omnipresent: How a cadet performs can determine if he or she will receive the job they want, or even if a spot on active duty awaits them.

The three grueling days earlier this month had pushed the 21-year-old to her limits.

"That's when I was like, 'It's either buck up now or go home,'" said McWherter, who graduated from the Operation Warrior Forge annual ROTC assessment course Friday at Fort Lewis.

One month earlier, life was good. McWherter and her University of Washington softball teammates were partying in Oklahoma City, soaking up every ounce of glory that comes with a national title. McWherter was a junior, and her teammates were already talking about a repeat next season.

But all that mattered little when Warrior Forge began. Her instructors didn't care about her softball success and her history with Fort Lewis – she was born on post and her father later commanded an infantry battalion there. She was another cadet, running on too little sleep and learning how to administer first aid, protect herself from nerve gas or planning and executing an assault on a mock city – all part of the 29-day course that produces 70 percent of the Army's second lieutenants. (The remainder graduate from West Point or are commissioned through Officer Candidate School.)

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I’ve received a few e-mails about what units of the 81st Brigade Combat Team will arrive Saturday afternoon. Here’s the list, conveniently ripped off from the Washington National Guard’s Web site:

Alpha and Bravo companies, 181st Brigade Support Battalion
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Combat Team
Headquarters company, 81st Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Charlie and Echo companies, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment

Hotel Company of 1-161 is also returning home Saturday, but those soldiers will land at Fairchild Air Force Base outside Spokane.

(Photo by Scott Fontaine/The News Tribune)

The battle of Wanat, Afghanistan, has been receiving some critical attention lately. The Pentagon's Inspector General has opened an investigation into whether troops had proper supplies, equipment and aerial surveillance.

Today, the Seattle Times wades into the issue with a well-researched, well-written report. (The Times presumably gave it a second look because one of the casualties that day was Cpl. Jason Bogar of Seattle.)

(Photo by Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)