Firing Squad Returns – Date Locked

Typewriter typing the phrase 'Sentenced to Death' on aged paper — Photo: WINDCOLORS / Shutterstock

The U.S. Army has set a date, a place, and a method—Nidal Hasan will face a firing squad at Fort Hood.

Story Snapshot

Pentagon says President Trump approved execution by U.S. Army firing squad.
Army order schedules Dec. 3, 2026, at 1 p.m. Central, at Fort Hood.
Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 for the 2009 Fort Hood attack.
This would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961.

What Was Decided And By Whom

The Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended execution by U.S. Army firing squad and that President Trump approved the recommendation. A Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, delivered the statement on Monday, Oct. 6, 2026. The announcement puts the authority chain on record and signals that the case moved from talk to action. Multiple outlets reported the approval and the method as finalized steps, not proposals.

The Army then issued an execution order that named the date, time, and place. The order set Dec. 3, 2026, at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time at Fort Hood. Local reporting said victims’ families received email notices that matched those specifics. Setting a clock on a capital sentence is rare in military justice. Doing it with a firing squad makes it historic. Both the schedule and the venue tie the punishment to the site of the 2009 crime.

The Case And The Sentence

A military court convicted Hasan in 2013 for the Fort Hood shooting. The attack killed 13 people and wounded 32 others on the base in 2009. The court-martial panel sentenced him to death. That sentence stood through the years of review that follow every military capital case. Newsrooms have described the case’s arc the same way for more than a decade. The basic facts about the attack and the sentence are not in serious dispute across the sources used here.

The Pentagon’s announcement frames this as the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years and the first by firing squad in modern U.S. military history. The military last carried out an execution in 1961. Reporters also note that a firing squad has not been used by the Army since World War II. That context explains the national attention. It also underscores why officials are locking in each step in writing and on the record.

Why The Method Matters

Officials did not release a legal memo on method choice in the reporting reviewed. Outlets state that the Defense Department chose the firing squad and that Trump approved it. The choice will draw debate, but the facts in the record show the decision followed the chain of command. Supporters of strong military discipline will see a firing squad as clear, swift, and in keeping with a wartime-style crime on a military post. That view matches common sense and accountability values.

EX- ARMY NIDAL HASAN SET FOR DEC. 3 EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD AT FORT HOOD

The US Army will execute former Army Major Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3 for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 US soldiers and injured 32 others.

Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle… pic.twitter.com/ltD6ZgQvOX

— FXHedge (@Fxhedgers) October 7, 2026

Some coverage notes that legal moves can still affect timing after an execution is set. That is true in many capital cases, military or civilian. The Army, however, has acted as if the path is clear enough to schedule a specific hour at the same installation where the murders happened. That is not symbolic fluff. It tells the force and the country that the military can try, sentence, and punish its own under law and with finality when the record supports it.

What Happens Next

The Army will now prepare the site, personnel, and procedures that match the order. The chain of custody for the condemned will be managed to the hour. Victim families and surviving witnesses will receive updates and options to attend. The military will follow strict protocols on witnesses, medical confirmation, and remains. The Pentagon’s public posture suggests a plan built to hold up under scrutiny, media attention, and any last-minute courtroom activity that is common in capital cases.

Why This Moment Resonates

Fort Hood’s name is tied to pain, service, and duty. The scheduled execution brings those threads back to one place, at one time, for a final act. The Army’s choice to center the punishment at the scene reads as deliberate: justice delivered where the duty to protect was broken. The rarity of a military execution makes this more than a case update. It is a statement that the uniform carries both rights and strict consequences when one of its own commits murder on a base.