On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, one of the largest military bases in the United States. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out on a US military installation.

The Soldier Readiness Processing Center is where soldiers complete medical and administrative checks before they are deployed overseas. This meant that many of those present that day were service members in the final stages of preparing to leave for duty abroad. They were gathered in a place meant to get them ready for war, and instead it became the scene of the attack.

The gunman was Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who was stationed at the base. Because he was a serving officer with access to the installation, he was able to enter the facility without raising the alarm. The attack stunned the country, partly because it came from inside the military community itself rather than from an outside threat.

Hasan was arrested and later put on trial in a military court. In 2013, he was convicted and sentenced to death. His case moved slowly through the military justice system in the years that followed.

The shooting left a lasting mark on Fort Hood and on the wider US military. It prompted serious discussion about security on military bases, about how warning signs are spotted and handled within the armed forces, and about how to support the families of those who were killed or hurt. For the soldiers and families of Fort Hood, the events of that day are still remembered every year.