The mentally disturbed airman who went on a shooting spree at the Fairchild hospital complex in June may have been kept in uniform for two years by unclear military regulations, even though several doctors said he should be forced out.
Six months before Dean Mellberg killed four people and wounded 23 with a semi-automatic assault weapon, a doctor at an Air Force medical center in Texas filled out a form saying he should be discharged, an inspector general's team says.
But the form was misinterpreted, and Mellberg was merely reassigned from Fairchild to a base in New Mexico.
Mellberg might have been kept out of the Air Force entirely if proper procedures had been followed, a team of investigators concluded after reviewing his records. …
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); February 10, 1996
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); October 2, 1994
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); October 2, 1994
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA); May 18, 1995
The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA); December 29, 2010
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