Tagged: Ft. Knox

The Ft. Knox soldier and spouse who died Friday in their on-post home have been identified as Specialist Christopher Meeks, and his wife, Krista Meeks.

Ft. Knox Police responded to the couple's residence in the Oak Park neighborhood at 3:40 a.m. Friday morning after a 911 call was made from the home. Four responding officers heard gunfire in the residence upon arrival and entered the home. They found the couple inside, both with gunshot wounds.

Spc. Meeks was dead. Krista Meeks was given first aid by police, but she died at the scene.

The couple’s two children were in the residence at the time of the incident. Neither was injured. The children are now in foster care pending permanent placement.

About 7,000 civilian workers at Fort Knox will be affected if federal cuts in defense spending take effect next Friday.

The News-Enterprise reports the workers would be furloughed one day each week for up to 22 weeks and lose about 20 percent of their pay.

Derek Avey, a civilian Fort Knox Garrison employee, says his family has made plans just in case.

"We'll make car payments and mortgage payments and those things, but going out to eat or catching a movie we may not do as often as we used to," the Elizabethtown resident said.

Officials at Fort Knox are weighing options on how to deal with potentially deep budget cuts without hurting essential functions.

Kyle Hodges, a spokesman for the Army post in Hardn County, told The News-Enterprise that no decisions have been made on whether layoffs or terminations would be needed. He said furloughs of civilian employees would be a drastic move.

"There has been no decision at this time for any Fort Knox Army civilians to be furloughed, as that is a tool of last resort that also requires approval of the Secretary of the Army," Hodges said in a statement.

Hodges said the post has been instructed by the Army to plan for financial impacts due to the possibility of deep federal cuts.