Soldier dies during training

May 6, 2008 - 12:39 AM
THE GAZETTE

A Fort Carson soldier died during a training exercise in California's Mojave Desert, the Army said Monday.

Spc. Emily T. Ort, 24, of Willis, Texas, was found unconscious in her sleeping bag at Fort Irwin, Calif., Saturday morning and was pronounced dead at the post hospital there.

An autopsy was scheduled Monday by the San Bernardino County coroner to determine what killed Ort, a member of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division. Ort was in California with the 3,800-soldier unit's Special Troops Battalion as it prepares to go to Iraq later this year. She is survived by a 16-month-old child, the Army said.

John Wagstaffe, a Fort Irwin spokesman, said Ort was found apparently asleep in a tent-city bivouac area called the Dust Bowl. When Ort didn't wake up, medics were summoned for first aid. She was then taken by ambulance to Weed Army Medical Center, where doctors declared her dead at 8:22 a.m.

Wagstaffe said Army investigators were looking into Ort's death, and had not released a report.