An internal planning document shows the Army is preparing to carry out the executions of its four death-row inmates if the president approves, under a plan called "Operation Resolute Justice."
The plan, issued internally in February, directs Army officials to coordinate with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer condemned prisoners from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the federal execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the Justice Department carried out a series of non-military federal executions during the president's first term.
The document directs multiple Army components to prepare for and facilitate executions "no later than 150 days from the date of presidential approval of the death sentences," and lays out timelines for check-in meetings and procedures should the president authorize them.
Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, said, "Exercises regarding this operation have been conducted regularly for the past 20 years. These drills are a standard component of our continued planning and preparation if the president approves a death sentence," and she added that the service has not been given a specific order from the president.
If carried out, the executions would mark the first time the military executed convicted American inmates in more than a half-century; the military has not executed a service member since 1961, when Pvt. John Bennett was put to death after being convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
While military courts can impose death sentences, presidential approval is required before any execution can proceed, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment when asked whether the president intends to give approval to move forward with the execution of any of the military's death row inmates, referring the question to the Army.
The plan also addresses how the Army would manage public communications surrounding an execution, including provisions for media access to witness the executions, and the planning effort was first reported by another outlet.
The president's return to office has included actions to resume federal executions: on his first day back he signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to reinstate capital punishment and pursue its use more vigorously, following a pause in federal executions by the previous administration; there were also no federal executions under President Barack Obama, who commuted the death sentence of one military death row inmate, Dwight Loving, to a life sentence without parole.
In April the Justice Department announced additional steps aimed at speeding the administration of executions, including expanding approved methods such as death by firing squad; in September Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would be seeking the execution of Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the Fort Hood mass shooting in 2009 which left 13 dead and 32 injured, and said, "I am 100% committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan. The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays."
The Army's four death row inmates include Ronald Gray, a former specialist and cook for the 82nd Airborne Division based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, who was convicted in 1988 on 14 charges including three counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder and three counts of rape; President George W. Bush approved Gray's execution in July 2008 and a date was set for December that year before a federal judge halted the execution until that halt was lifted in 2016, making Gray the only current death row inmate for which a president has signed off on the execution. Another inmate, Timothy Hennis, was convicted in 1986 in North Carolina state court of raping a woman and murdering her and two of her daughters, a conviction later overturned for insufficient evidence with a 1989 retrial ending in acquittal; preserved evidence was later retested using DNA analysis, double jeopardy protections barred another state prosecution, and because the alleged offenses occurred while he was on active duty military prosecutors recalled Hennis to active duty after he left the Army in 2004, tried him in military court and sentenced him to death.