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WASHINGTON (AP) - The former Navy reservist who gunned down 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard had a string of misconduct problems during his nearly four years in the military, but he received an honorable discharge, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The officials said that Aaron Alexis, 34, had bouts of insubordination, disorderly conduct and was sometimes absent from work without authorization. The offenses occurred mainly when he was serving in Fort Worth, Texas, from 2008-2011, and were enough to prompt Navy officials to grant him an early discharge through a special program for enlisted personnel.
Officials said the bad conduct was enough to make it clear Alexis would not be a good sailor, but not enough to warrant a general or less-than-honorable discharge. They also did not involve criminal offenses, so did not trigger any court-martial proceedings. The officials also said that his brushes with civil law enforcement, including what has been described as an accidental discharge of a weapon in his home, were also not enough to block an honorable discharge.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his record publicly.
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