A soldier with the Indiana National Guard died this weekend at an urban training facility in the southeast part of the state.
Cpl. Larry Litton Jr., 29, was found unresponsive at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center on Saturday. Details of his death are not being provided at this time, an Indiana National Guard spokeswoman said, citing the ongoing investigation.
Upon being found, Litton was immediately transferred to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“The National Guard is working in conjunction with local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation," said spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Beth Houx. "Cpl. Litton was taken to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital in North Vernon, Ind., after he was found unresponsive.”
The hospital is a roughly 15-minute drive from the training center.
Litton served as an assistant squad leader with the 384th Military Police Company. He had been in the service since September 2012, when he enlisted in the Army National Guard.
“Cpl. Litton was a respected and admired soldier within our organization,” said Capt. Cameron Molnar, the company commander, in a prepared statement. “His love for his family, his fellow service members, and our country makes this loss a tough and sad time. My deepest sympathy for his family and friends in this very difficult time."
The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is a 1,000-acre property located roughly 75 miles southeast of Indianapolis. The facility is used to train a range of professionals, from civilian first responders to diplomats, as well as soldiers.
Litton was from Martinsville, in central Indiana.
Another Indiana National Guard soldier, Staff Sgt. Andrew Michael St. John, 29, died in August during training. He was killed in a tactical vehicle accident at Fort Hood, Texas.
That incident is being investigated by the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Litton’s death also comes less than a week after three Minnesota National Guard soldiers died after a mishap occurred during a routine maintenance flight near St. Cloud, Minnesota. That incident is also under investigation by the Army Combat Readiness Center.
Anytime an accident results in a loss of life — either on the ground or in the air — Army Combat Readiness Center teams are dispatched to investigate and write a report documenting what went wrong. Army Times will file Freedom of Information Act requests for the investigations once they’re completed.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
