Statesman.com / By Jeremy Schwartz

FORT HOOD — The two Fort Hood police officers celebrated as heroes for responding first to the 2009 shooting massacre at this Army post were told recently they would lose their jobs as part of broader military budget cuts.

Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd, who is credited with taking down suspected shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan, have both left Fort Hood in advance of the termination of their jobs. Fort Hood officials said other civilian police officers on the post who were hired on a year-to-year basis will likewise not see their employment renewed.

"We all hold Fort Hood in our hearts and never thought we would be facing cutbacks," said Munley, who has taken an unpaid leave of absence.

Fort Hood officials said the civilian police officers will be replaced with military police soldiers, or MPs, in a sign that the wartime posture of the Army's busiest deployment hub is slowing down. Officials said Fort Hood increased hiring of civilian officers in 2003 as military police soldiers were increasingly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a trend that is reversing.

"As more MP soldiers are available at Fort Hood, we return to the use of MPs for law enforcement," Christopher Zimmer, deputy director for the Directorate of Emergency Services at Fort Hood, said in a statement. "Though the number of (civilian police officers) working on Fort Hood is reducing, there are more than enough MPs available to perform law enforcement duties, so Fort Hood will continue to be a safe place to live and work."

It was unclear Friday how much Fort Hood's garrison budget had been reduced. Fort Hood officials referred budget questions to the Army's Installation Management Command, which referred questions to Fort Hood.

Todd and Munley were the first law enforcement officers to arrive at a busy medical processing center after a gunman killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others on Nov. 5, 2009. According to testimony in a pretrial evidentiary hearing for Hasan, Todd fired the shots that paralyzed the Army psychiatrist from the chest down and ended the rampage. Munley testified that her gun malfunctioned and that she was shot three times by the gunman.

The two police officers were widely celebrated after the incident, attending a State of the Union address as invited guests of President Barack Obama and being named National Law Enforcement Officers of the Year by the American Police Hall of Fame.

Munley, who had knee replacement surgery after the shooting and continues to recover, said she worried the cutbacks would make Fort Hood more vulnerable to attacks.

"Our already exhausted military police will be filling our shoes while still fighting two wars abroad," Munley said in an email from her native North Carolina. "While they are extensively trained in the mindset of war, fighting crime on the street domestically is a whole different world than the environment they are used to overseas. Personally, I believe the reduction in force of our federal civilian officers is a very bad decision."

Fort Hood officials said that the Police Department will retain a "core" of civilian officers in "key positions" to ensure continuity . And Zimmer said MP officers assigned to the Fort Hood Police Department will meet the same training and safety requirements as their civilian counterparts.

Todd resigned from the Fort Hood police force and took a job as an overseas contractor in July, according to Fort Hood officials. Todd could not be reached for comment, but in a Facebook post told his friends and followers that he and other civilian officers were told their services were no longer needed because of budget reductions: "Thanks for coming out, God bless, goodnight. Therefore I am departing 'The Great Place' for an undisclosed location overseas. I wish everyone good luck and quiet shifts. PS please keep me updated on the court martial."

According to the pretrial testimony, Todd's actions outside the soldier readiness processing center probably saved more lives. Investigators said Hasan had 177 unspent cartridges on him when he was gunned down.

Army officials gave Todd and Munley awards of valor last year at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the shooting in which they were praised for their quick actions. "Do I consider myself a hero? Not really, that's what we're trained to do," the soft-spoken Todd said after the ceremony. "It's bittersweet. My life day to day is still the same, but there are 13 lives that will never be the same. I ask myself why. I wish we could have been there sooner."

jschwartz@statesman.com; 912-2942

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