Hours after same-sex Army wife Ashley Broadway was named Fort Bragg's 2013 “spouse of the year,” the on-base spouses club — that has for two months rebuffed Broadway's bid to join — fully reversed course and invited her "to become a full member," according to emails sent to NBC News and Broadway.

The decision comes one week after the Association of Bragg Officers' Spouses (ABOS) extended Broadway — who is married to Army Lt. Col. Heather Mack — a "special guest membership," an invitation she declined and called "extremely demeaning."

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"After further reviewing the (club's) constitution, by-laws and internal procedures, the ABOS Board felt that in order to immediately support all military Officer spouses who are eligible for ABOS membership a more inclusive definition of spouse was needed. Therefore, any Spouse of an active duty commissioned or warrant Officer with a valid marriage certificate from any state or district in the United States is eligible for ABOS membership," the club's board said in a statement.

"ABOS does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, creed, or sexual orientation. ABOS would like to publicly invite Ms. Broadway to apply for full membership to ABOS. It is and always has been our mission to support all military families."

In an email to Broadway — shared with NBC News — the club said, "We would like to offer you to become a full member of ABOS."

"I will go ahead and submit my application," Broadway said in response to the invitation. "I need to educate some of the naysayers that are in that group and show them my family is just like their family."

In the online election held Tuesday, Broadway captured the Fort Bragg vote “by a country mile,” said Babette Maxwell, founder of Military Spouse magazine and the Military Spouse of the Year award. Ballot totals were not revealed.

As one of the 154 base-level winners, Broadway now is eligible to be nominated for Army “spouse of the year.”

“A lot of people who voted never me met or talked to me or knew me from Adam. I know it was a statement to the Obama Administration, to Secretary (of Defense Leon) Panetta, to Senator (Chuck) Hagel — if he is confirmed (as defense secretary) — to the Pentagon and, really, to America that, yes, she is a military spouse and she needs to be recognized,” Broadway told NBC News.

“There are things the government can do right now to make life a hell of a lot easier than what it is currently for those who are in same-sex marriages in the military,” she added. “It was a lot of people saying, ‘Enough’s enough.’ ”

Broadway’s rejection from the Fort Bragg officers’ spouses club sparked the U.S. Marine Corps to issue on Jan. 9 a pro-gay, branch-wide directive. On Jan. 16, her bid drew the Pentagon’s attention. The next day, the on-base spouses club offered Broadway a "special guest membership" – an invitation she declined, calling it “extremely demeaning.” 

Broadway married Mack, her 15-year companion, in November — their first chance to hold a formal ceremony after the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy that kept gays from openly serving in the military. The couple has a 2-year-old son and Mack gave birth to their second child, a daughter, on Tuesday. 

“People got one vote per email address — one ballot for the person you wanted to represent you. I think people would be unwilling to, quote-unquote, throw their vote away on simply doing what was popular,” Maxwell said. “There was a significant amount of meaning in what they were doing when they voted for Ashley.

“Removing her a bit from the press and recognition she’s received the last few months, Ashley — more importantly — has a platform to benefit a large number of spouses, and that’s what people want to see happen,” Maxwell added. “The winners are chosen based on their merits, their accomplishments and what they intend to do for the community in the year to come.”

Broadway has volunteered to tutor soldiers’ children in reading, briefed inbound Army families on local school districts, and helped transferring soldiers with housing-location decisions.

“When I was denied membership, I asked to speak to the club’s board. I was convinced that if they’d just sit down with me for half an hour, if I could talk to them about what I’ve been doing, what I’ll be doing in the future, they would see what an asset I would be to the group,” Broadway said.

The meeting was not granted.

“That was the most frustrating thing,” she said.

Before its decision late Friday to relent and offer Broadway full membership, the ABOS board had maintained Broadway was never rejected because “a formal application was never filed,” and that she simply had inquired about the eligibility of a same-sex spouse and was told the club would need “time to look at the issue.” 

Online voting for the next round of the 2013 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year — the branch level — will take place Feb. 5. The overall winner, elected from the branch finalists, will be revealed May 9.

"I never thought in a million years I would be the one to advance the cause. If that’s what it’s going to take to get attention for all the military same-sex spouses, then so be it," Broadway said. "But I do take this (Bragg 'spouse of the year' award) very seriously. And we'll see where it goes from here." 

Related stories:

• Army spouses club offers 'special guest membership' for same-sex wife
• Pentagon opts not to intervene in ban of lesbian by Fort Bragg spouses club
• Marine Corps orders spouses clubs to allow same-sex members

An on-base club for Fort Bragg spouses extended a "special guest membership" Thursday night to the lesbian spouse of an Army lieutenant colonel, marking another twist in a six-week-long saga that prompted a pro-gay Marine Corps directive and that has drawn the attention of gay and lesbian activists nationwide. 

The Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses (ABOS) offered Ashley Broadway an invitation to join the group as a “special guest,” but not as a full member — meaning she can attend all club functions but cannot vote on club matters — according to an email to NBC News by the association’s board. 

Broadway immediately rejected the overture, calling it “extremely demeaning.” Broadway married her 15-year companion, Lt. Col. Heather Mack, in November — their first chance to hold a formal ceremony after the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy that kept gays from openly serving in the military. The couple has a 2-year-old son and Mack is due to give birth to their second child on Sunday. 

“I correlate ‘guest membership’ to saying, ‘Heather, you can be gay and be in the military but we’re not going to treat your spouse as equal.’ I can be in this club but I can’t have full membership?  That’s not acceptable,” Broadway said in an interview with NBC News Thursday night. “I’m either going to be a member or not. I applied to be a full member with a vote.

“I am declining their offer.”

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In a statement mass emailed Thursday evening, the Bragg officers club said some information reported in the media about Broadway’s membership application “has been false or misleading,” including assertions that the board changed its bylaws after Broadway applied.

“In mid-November, ABOS received an inquiry from ... Ashley Broadway, requesting information on the eligibility for membership in ABOS of a same sex spouse. As this was a case of first impression, she was told that such a request would need to be studied,” read the club’s statement. 

Since going public with her story, Broadway has maintained that she received a phone call during the first week of December from a club representative, informing her that Mary Ring, the group’s president, had rejected her application because Broadway does not have a military spouse identification card. (The U.S. military does not recognize same-sex marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act and does not offer benefits — or ID cards — to same-sex spouses.) Broadway also serves as director of family affairs at the American Military Partner Association, a fact mentioned by ABOS leaders in their explanation of the events. 

“ABOS’ membership application does not explicitly require a valid (Department of Defense) ID Card but some member benefits and events do require a valid DoD ID Card,” the club’s statement continued. “ABOS received Ms. Broadway’s letter requesting reconsideration on Friday, December 7 and by Monday, December 10 a similar letter to the ABOS President was published on her organization’s website.

“ABOS’ by-laws were never changed retroactively in an attempt to exclude anyone. The ABOS Board’s bi-annual review of the by-laws began in July 2012, at which time the by-laws were removed from the ABOS website and continue to be under review,” the statement said. “Since the by-laws were written and adopted well before the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’, the term ‘Spouse’ is not defined.”

In a separate email to NBC News, the club’s board maintained that Broadway was never rejected by the Bragg social club because “a formal application was never filed,” and that she simply had inquired about membership eligibility of a same sex spouse and was told the club would need “time to look at the issue.” 

The "special guest" invitation to Broadway sparked criticism and skepticism Thursday night from Stephen Peters, president of the American Military Partner Association, a Washington, D.C.-based resource and support network for lesbian and gay military families. 

“So that leaves the question of: If the bylaws and the application do not explicitly require a valid DoD ID card, why is she still being denied full membership?” Peters asked. “What do certain unnamed ‘events’ requiring a valid DoD ID card have to do with anything?"

Before the ABOS website was made fully password protected and before the group took down its Facebook page – both done after initial reports of Broadway’s membership battle surfaced – the American Military Partner Association took screenshots of both sites. The ABOS website and Facebook page “were changed retroactively in order to add the requirement of an ID card after Ashley applied for membership,” according to Peters. Those screenshots were shared Thursday with NBC News. 

As of Thursday night, the website was fully accessible and no longer password protected.

“It's fantastic that they have finally contacted Ashley after a month of silence, but if the ABOS mission is to support all military families, why are they continuing to deny same-sex military spouses full membership?” Peters asked. “Offering ‘guest membership’ to Ashley is like offering her ‘second-class membership status.’ There is no valid reason why she should not be offered full membership as outlined in the organization's bylaws.”

Citing the Broadway flap, the U.S. Marine Corps on Dec. 9 issued a branch-wide directive that same-sex spouses be allowed to participate in spouses clubs at all Marine bases. 

On Wednesday, Pentagon officials said they support a decision by leaders at Fort Bragg not to intervene in the matters of its on-base spouses club. 

The legal basis for the Pentagon’s stance is a Department of Defense “instruction” drafted in 2008, three years before the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, a Pentagon spokesman said. That directive ensures that “non-federal entities” operating on U.S. military installations don’t discriminate on the basis of “race, color, creed, sex, age, disability, or national origin.” There is no mention of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Broadway, meanwhile, has been nominated for the Fort Bragg Military Spouse of the Year award, a precursor to the Army Military Spouse of the Year award and — perhaps, ultimately — the 2013 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year award, which represents all branches. She is one of about 10 Bragg spouses nominated for the award from that base. Online voting for the base-level award takes place Jan. 22. 

Related: Pentagon opts not to intervene in ban of lesbian by Fort Bragg spouses club
Related: Marine Corps orders spouses clubs to allow same-sex members
Related: Same-sex wife of Army officer banned from Fort Bragg spouses club

The Pentagon is endorsing a move by leaders at Fort Bragg to stay out of a decision made by its on-base spouses club to refuse membership to the lesbian spouse of a female Army lieutenant, a Department of Defense spokesman said Wednesday.

The legal basis for the Pentagon’s stance is a department-wide “instruction” drafted in 2008, three years before the repeal of the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, said Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Pentagon. That directive ensures that “non-federal entities” operating on U.S. military installations don’t discriminate on the basis of “race, color, creed, sex, age, disability, or national origin.” There is no mention of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

NBC News reported Dec. 14 that Ashley Broadway, the newlywed wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack, was blocked from joining the spouses club at Fort Bragg, N.C., sparking accusations from a national military spouses organization that Broadway was being blackballed only because she is a lesbian.

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The Army’s handling of that matter runs counter to a directive issued Jan. 9 by Marine Corps leaders who ordered that same-sex spouses be allowed to participate in spouses clubs at all Marine bases. 

“The Officer Spouses' Club at Ft. Bragg is in compliance with the DOD instruction,” Christensen said. “When you look at the instruction there are a few things it has to meet. As long as they meet those criteria, they’re allowed to meet on the base.”

Broadway and Mack have been together for 15 years, have a 2-year-old son together and Mack is expected to deliver their second child this month. They married in November — their first chance to hold a formal ceremony after the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” On Wednesday, Broadway said the Pentagon's position only added fuel to a larger battle for equal rights being waged within the U.S. military by other same-sex spouses. 

“This is no longer about me joining this officers club. This is about the Pentagon and the Department of Defense and the Department of Army telling the country that it is OK to discriminate against gay and lesbian service members and their families,” Broadway told NBC News.

“This is not the end. I’m not going to drop this. I’m not going to sit back and take the discrimination when I know good and well the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense can sign rights today that would also authorize military IDs and extend housing (to the same-sex spouses of service members),” she added. “The decisions here at Fort Bragg, and in the Department of Army, have showed absolutely no gesture of: ‘Hey, you’re important and this is discrimination.’ If anything, they’ve shown they absolutely don’t care. Disappointed? Extremely. Frustrated? Extremely. Surprised? No.”

Broadway, meanwhile, has been nominated for the Fort Bragg Military Spouse of the Year award, a precursor to the Army Military Spouse of the Year award and — perhaps, ultimately — the 2013 Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year award, which represents all branches. She is one of about 10 Bragg spouses nominated for the award from that base. Online voting for the base-level award takes place Jan. 22. 

Mack has received overwhelming support within her Army unit at Fort Bragg, Broadway said. 

The Pentagon's position on the Fort Bragg matter is legally viable despite the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” because, Christensen said, the Department of Defense still follows the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). That law defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman. Under DOMA, the federal government doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages and doesn’t offer same-sex military spouses some benefits given to heterosexual spouses.

Asked if the Marine Corps’ recent directive banning the discrimination of same-sex spouses at its spouses clubs conflicts with the Pentagon’s stance, Christensen responded: “The DOD policy has not changed.”

But Mary Reding, a California attorney and president of Military Spouse JD Network — the largest association of military spouse attorneys — contends that the Pentagon's legal hair-splitting contradicts the spirit of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

"While the Army's position is defensible based on outdated internal policies,” Reding said, "the current climate and the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' would indicate a shift in acceptance that should be a catalyst for an immediate review of discriminatory practices in all policy areas." 

Related: Marine Corps orders spouses clubs to allow same-sex members
Related: Same-sex wife of Army officer banned from Fort Bragg spouses club

Marine Corps leaders have directed their legal teams to alert spouses clubs at all Marine bases to begin allowing same-sex spouses as members if those social groups want to continue operating on Marine installations, Marine officials confirmed to NBC News Wednesday evening.

In an all-hands memo to legal offices across the branch, the Marine commandant's Staff Judge Advocate warned against discrimination based on sexual orientation, and he specifically mentioned a controversial decision made last month by the officers' spouses club at the Army's Fort Bragg to deny access to the same-sex spouse of a female Army lieutenant.

NBC News reported Dec. 14 that Ashley Broadway, the newlywed wife of Lt. Col. Heather Mack, was blocked from joining the spouses club at Fort Bragg, N.C., sparking accusations from a national military spouses organization that Broadway was being blackballed only because she is a lesbian.

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The Marine memo, issued Tuesday, described the Fort Bragg club’s stance as having “caused quite a stir” and added, “We do not want a story like this developing in our backyard,” confirmed Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine Corps spokesman.

“The order was pretty much using (the Fort Bragg events) as an example to clarify our policy,” Flanagan said. “We stated that the policy is to be non-discriminatory.

“We don’t control what (the spouses clubs) do. But they get support from the Marine Corps so that they can hold their meetings on base or at Department of Defense facilities. So, in order to do that, they do have to follow Marine Corp policies,” he added. “We expect that all who are interested in supporting Marine Corps family readiness would be welcome to participate and will be treated with dignity and respect.”

Broadway married Mack, her 15-year companion, in November — their first chance to hold a formal ceremony after the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy that kept gays from openly serving in the military. The couple has a 2-year-old son and Mack, who is pregnant, is expected to deliver their second child this month. 

“I commend the commandant and the Marine officials for being able to take a look and really think about what is going on, and basically realizing that, hey, we’ve got same-sex Marines that are married, and we need to support their families,” Broadway told NBC News on Wednesday night.

“This is a huge step in the right direction. I applaud them.”

Broadway, who recently met with the garrison commander at Fort Bragg in her continuing bid to gain membership to the officers spouses club, remains banned from attending the group’s functions. But she said the Marine Corp’s re-emphasized policy could apply public pressure on Army officials to take the same approach.

“I would imagine so. I would probably say the Navy would follow suit and then the Air Force and the Army will take a look and say, you know what, this is the right thing,” Broadway said. “As a loyal Army wife, I would have liked to have seen it from my own branch first. But hey, I’m very excited for my Marine brothers and sisters.”

The newlywed wife of a female lieutenant colonel stationed at Fort Bragg, the largest Army installation in the country, has been denied membership in a base club for officers’ spouses, igniting accusations from a national military spouses organization that the woman was blackballed only because she is a lesbian.

Ashley Broadway married her 15-year companion, Lt. Col. Heather Mack, in November — their first chance to hold a formal ceremony after the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the policy that kept gays from openly serving in the military. The couple has a 2-year-old son and Mack is 8-months-pregnant with their second child.

“I was really hurt by the denial. Living for years under ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ I couldn’t be a part of the military family,” Broadway said, breaking into tears. “After ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,’ I thought, wow, I can finally be part of something, finally give back to the military community in ways other than just writing a check. So it was a blow. A real blow. Here, I thought things were progressing. I was knocked back down.”

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During a phone call Broadway received last week from a representative from the Association of Bragg Officers' Spouses, Broadway said she was told her application was rejected by the group’s president, Mary Ring, because Broadway does not have a military spouse identification card.

But that rule was added only after Broadway asked to join several weeks ago, according to Babette Maxwell, founder and executive director of both Military Spouse Magazine and the annual Military Spouse of the Year Awards. Maxwell and others advocating for Broadway said they have been monitoring and chronologically noting changes in the website for the Bragg spouses club. 

Several weeks ago, Broadway repeatedly asked the club for a copy of its bylaws so she could read its membership rules. The club did not send them to her, she said, so Broadway obtained the bylaws from Fort Bragg's Morale, Welfare and Recreation office, where they were on file — and those pages later were shared with NBC News. Under the membership requirements, the bylaws state that the club accepts "spouses of all commissioned and warrant officers" who are on active duty and who reside "in the Fort Bragg area" or live on base. In those bylaws, which also say the group "will not seek to deprive individuals of their civil rights," there is no mention of a requirement that members must posses a military spouse identification card. 

On Thursday, the spouse club noted on its website that: "Our constitution and Bylaws are currently being reviewed. Thank you for your patience during this process. We will have them posted as soon as possible."

In recent days, Maxwell said, the club deleted from its website its phone number — a number that is now disconnected — as well as the last names of its board members. On Thursday, those first names were still publicly listed on the site.

On Friday morning, every link beyond the website's welcome page was password protected. 

The U.S. military does not recognize same-sex marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act and does not offer benefits — or ID cards — to same-sex spouses.

The club, in a statement emailed to NBC news, said: “In response to recent interest in the membership requirements of our organization, we will review the issue at our next board meeting.” The letter cites a “busy holiday season” and notes the club’s board has been “extremely busy” with a pair of recent fundraisers.

“Too busy with the holidays? Really? Since when has equality taken a back seat to Christmas?” asked Maxwell, whose mother once served as president of the Fort Bragg officers wives’ club when Maxwell’s father was stationed at the North Carolina base.

“My mother would say: It didn’t matter if a spouse was black, or was a he, and it most certainly wouldn’t matter if she loved a woman,” Maxwell said. “Back in the day, I never once recall having to present my military ID at any spouse club event, ever. We regularly had the girlfriends and fiancés of officers participate in the club. They didn’t have military IDs. So I find their explanation that Ashley’s membership requires a military ID a bit weak.”

Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.

The Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses is a nonprofit, according to its website, meaning it is not directly associated with the Department of Defense.

“That does give them a little bit more legal latitude with their abilities to discriminate, which would be sad,” Maxwell said. “But their decision is certainly not in keeping with the military’s directive and they do have Fort Bragg in their name.”

While investigating the matter on Broadway's behalf, Maxwell also has been placing calls to the Fort Bragg public affairs office and to the Fort Bragg garrison commander’s office.

“When I called the garrison office (Wednesday), asking when we could expect some type of response from that office about Ashley Broadway, I got hung up on,” Maxwell said. “Meanwhile, (the club) has made course correction after course correction on its website to cover their butts.

“They are part of and affiliated, by definition, with Fort Bragg. They need to understand the Army and the military’s directive on this by the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.’ They need to step in line with that. If it comes down to the president (Mary Ring) of the spouses club imposing her personal beliefs on an organization, I would ask her to step aside and she may found her own nonprofit. But the Fort Bragg Officers’ Spouses club belongs to Fort Bragg."

A voicemail message left by NBC News with the Fort Bragg public affairs office was not returned. But on Friday, the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) — a support network for spouses or partners of LGBT service members - released a statement, revealing that Fort Bragg's commander will meet with Broadway on Dec. 20 to discuss her application. 

According to both the AMPA and OutServe-SLDN, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel, Fort Bragg Col. Jeffrey Sanborn, the Garrison commander, will meet with Broadway "to address the discrimination she is facing with the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses."

"By agreeing to this meeting, the post leadership is affirming that, indeed, it does have a role to play when a family in its community is treated unfairly by a group that holds itself out as representative of all military families," the AMPA's statement read. "Ashley looks forward to discussing not only the challenges her family has faced, but those faced by other same-sex military families in the Fort Bragg community.”

AMPA earlier had said it was “disappointed to see such exclusion.” (AMPA also has been monitoring the Bragg spouses club website and shared the recently removed bylaws with NBC News). 

“The Fort Bragg Officers’ Spouse Club would not need to review the membership requirements if they had not changed the membership qualifications after Ms. Broadway requested to join their association,” the AMPA added in a statement Thursday emailed to NBC News. “The bylaws on which the FBOSC board has voted and approved are sufficient to allow all spouses of any military officer to become a member, ID or not."

Said Maxwell: “We expect them to do the right thing. We are looking for them to be the model for other organizations that are going to face this issue in the near future. This is going to come up again. This is an opportunity for Fort Bragg — their spouses club — to step out and be the leader we know they can be. They need to be the template by which others follow.”

At their home near Fort Bragg, Broadway and Mack are preparing for the arrival of their second child. But next year, Mack expects to head to Afghanistan to serve with her unit, Broadway said.

“My wife puts on the uniform like every other soldier,” Broadway said. “She knows she’s probably going to have to deploy as soon as she comes off her six-month maternity (leave). She’s prepared to give her life for the country that she loves. She’s prepared to save one of her soldiers in a time of attack. (Due to benefit inequalities for same-sex spouses in the military), she shouldn’t have to worry if her family is going to be taken care if, God forbid, something happens to her."

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An Army general based in Fort Bragg, N.C., has been charged with forced sex, multiple counts of adultery and inappropriate relationships with female subordinates while serving in Afghanistan.

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was relieved of his command in Afghanistan last May and returned to Fort Bragg. In addition to the sexual misconduct accusations, Sinclair also faces charges of possessing pornography and alcohol while deployed in Afghanistan.

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Sinclair has been in the Army for 27 years, according to The Associated Press, and has been deployed three times to Afghanistan. He also served in Iraq.

Sinclair now faces an Article 32, the Army's equivalent of a grand jury hearing, to determine whether he should face court martial on any or all charges.

The charge of "forced sex" involves allegations he forced a subordinate to perform oral sex and is based on the previous Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Related: Pentagon calls for steps to prevent sexual assault

Revisions to that code implemented this year now consider all forms of "forced sex" as rape.

Court martials of Army Generals are relatively rare.  Only two, a brigadier general and major general, have been court martialed in the past 13 years.

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On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered all military services to review their training and response programs for officers and enlisted personnel.

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The soldier who fatally shot a battalion commander at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Thursday has been identified as Specialist Ricky G. Elder, a 27-year-old infantryman from Hutchinson, Kan.

Elder, who also shot himself after shooting his superior, died Friday after receiving treatment, according to a statement from Fort Bragg.

He had been charged with stealing a toolkit valued at $1,700 and was pending court martial, according to the statement. He could have been dishonorably discharged if found guilty, Reuters reported.

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Elder allegedly opened fire during a routine talk about staying safe during the July 4^th holiday.

Official: Battalion commander dead in Fort Bragg shooting

He shot his commander, Lt. Col. Roy Tisdale, 42, a highly decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Tisdale, the commander of the 525^th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.  

A third soldier, Specialist Michael Latham, 22, suffered a non-life threatening wound.

Elder enlisted in the Army in 2004 and was deployed to Iraq from October 2006 to November 2007. He was deployed to Afghanistan from September 2010 to June 2011. He had previously been assigned to Fort Richardson in Alaska and Fort Benning in Georgia. He arrived at Fort Bragg in June 2010.

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The Army soldier who allegedly shot and killed his battalion commander at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Thursday was facing court martial and possible discharge from the Army on criminal charges, U.S. military officials told NBC News. The Army specialist, whose identity has not been released, was also shot and critically wounded, and is not expected to survive.

According to officials, the specialist walked up to his battalion commander, a Lieutenant Colonel, and without warning pulled a pistol and shot the commander three times in the head and twice in the chest. Other soldiers rushed the shooter, who was shot in the head in the ensuing struggle and critically wounded, officials said. A third soldier also suffered a minor gunshot wound.

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Officials said the shooter had been an Army specialist for 8 years, and was accused of stealing a tool box worth $1,700 from Fort Bragg motor pool, and was in line for a special court martial on criminal charges. That specialist had also been a member of the security detail in Afghanistan for the officer killed Thursday.

The soldier shot his commander during a safety brief – in this case, a 10- to 15-minute lecture about staying safe for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.

“This is a tragedy for our community,” Col. Kevin Arata, spokesman for Fort Bragg, said at a press conference. “We don’t yet know the reasons for the shooting, but are working with the unit and the affected families to help them through this difficult period.”

Special agents from the Army’s Criminal Investigation team were on site Thursday evening.

Msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery contributed to this report.

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Nicholas Holbert, the last man to see missing 23-year-old Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux alive, turned himself in to police and was in custody Friday afternoon on a charge not related to Bordeaux’s disappearance, NBC News reported.

Holbert, a convicted sex offender, was held at the Cumberland County Detention Center in Fayetteville, N.C., for not updating authorities with his address as required under state law.

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Bordeaux, who is married, was seen with Holbert at Froggy Bottom bar in Fayetteville Friday night, NBC-17 reported, and the two rang up a bar tab of $28 that night, for four shots and four beers, according to the bar owner, who would not give his name. 

Holbert was not a bar employee but lived in a tent behind the bar and came there often, NBC-17 reported, citing the owner.  The tent is no longer there. Holbert wasa convicted at age 16 for indecent liberties - or knowingly causing another person to have sexual contact - with a 5-year-old child.

Earlier Friday afternoon, Bordeaux's brother said there was little progress in the search for his sister.

"Everybody’s doing the best they can with the resources and the manpower to try and find Kelli… safe and sound," Matt Henson, 29, said at a press briefing. But he conceded that it was "frustrating" and urged people to come forward with tips on his sister's disappearance.

Bordeaux was reported missing Monday when she did not report for duty at Fort Bragg. She is a combat Army medic with the 44th Medical Brigade.

Authorities questioned Holbert, 25, who said he drove Bordeaux home the night she disappeared, according to WTVD-TVin Fayetteville. He reportedly denied any involvement in her disappearance, saying he dropped her off at the entrance to her neighborhood.

Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine told reporters at a press conference Thursday that Holbert is one of the last persons that had contact with Bordeaux, and said anybody who saw her early Saturday morning is someone they want to talk to.

Bergamine said there were more than 20 people at the bar that night and that police knew some of the names, but not all.

Bergamine would not say if it had been Holbert's tent had been confiscated for evidence.

He said the Fayetteville police have "no new leads."

Police searched a pond Wednesday night and Thursday morning, without result.

Henson said that Bordeaux’s husband, Mike Bordeaux, who is a civilian, was also involved in handing out fliers and searching for the missing soldier.

Asked if there were clues that his sister was having trouble or had a past of going missing, Henson dismissed the idea.

"There was no indication that anything was out of the ordinary," he said. "She loved life. Everything was good."

Henson said he remained "hopeful that she’s just being held hostage … maybe hurt but is going to be OK."

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A bar hand who is a registered sex offender has been questioned twice by police in connection with the disappearance of Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux, according to a report.

Pfc. Bordeaux, 23, from St Cloud, Fla., disappeared after leaving the Froggy Bottoms bar late Saturday night in Fayetteville, N.C. She was reported missing Monday when she did not report for duty.

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Read the full story at WESH.com

Police said they have found evidence that has them worried about her disappearance. They have not commented further.

However, ABC News 11 reported that Nicholas Holbert, a 25-year-old worker at the bar, gave the soldier a ride home but denied having anything to do with her disappearance.

Holbert reportedly said he dropped her off at the entrance of her neighborhood at her request.

"As soon as you drive into the entrance to Meadowbrook, she said stop right here," it quoted Holbert as saying. "So I stopped and she said, 'I'll walk home.' I said, 'Are you sure?' She said, 'Yeah.' I said I figured she didn't want me to know where she lived, or somebody was there and she didn't want to be seen together."

ABC News 11 reported that Holbert, who lives behind the bar, was questioned for a second time Wednesday by Fayetteville Police.

He told the station he believed he was being targeted because he has a criminal record. The station said Holbert is a registered sex offender and was convicted as a 16-year-old of indecent liberties with a 5-year-old child.

According to her Facebook page, Bordeaux has been married for two years to her husband, Michael Bordeaux, and she attended Valencia Community College.

A friend told WESH.com Kelli Bordeaux's husband recently moved back to central Florida from Fayetteville. A U.S. Army official said the couple were separated. Officers said the husband is cooperating with investigators. 

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After a sometimes painful 18 months of gestation, Sgt. Justin Griffith of Fort Bragg, N.C., exclaims, "My baby is about to be born!" His baby is Rock Beyond Belief, apparently the first major atheist event on a U.S. military base.

Griffith, 29, who has served five years in the Army, including two deployments to Iraq, has been wrestling with the overwhelmingly Christian establishment in the Army since September 2010 to get to this point.

The March 31 event is Griffith’s answer to Rock the Fort — a day-long evangelical Christian concert and festival held at Fort Bragg on Sept. 25, 2010, put on by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, with the support and blessing of the military brass. It was the fourth in a series of events sponsored  by the group on various U.S. bases dating to 2009.

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Among the headliners for the all-day atheist festival on the base are scientist Richard Dawkins, the rock band Aiden and singer/songwriter Roy Zimmerman.

Griffith is most proud that the event has garnered the same material support from the military that it gave the evangelical Christian event. This week, he announced that he had secured a commitment for the U.S. Army Golden Knights — an elite skydiving team — to perform in the festival, despite the reluctance of some of the team’s Christian members.

"We asked for apples-to-apples treatment to the (Christian) event," said Griffith. "We fought for it. I won. I think (Fort Bragg leadership) won too because they did the right thing."

Griffith, who describes himself as a hardcore atheist, said he loves the Army, but he is constantly chafing at prayers — Christian, or non-specific invocations — that routinely are included in military ceremonies. But the Rock the Fort concert and festival spurred him to action.

"They bragged that they got hundreds of soldiers …  to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior," said Griffith of the concert-festival series. "That is unacceptable. The chaplain’s job is not to grow their flock, it’s their job to take tend to the existing flock."

Griffith was the most outspoken critic of the event on the base, though a number of groups — Freedom from Religion Foundation, American United for the Separation of Church and State and others — said the event violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick who leads the 18th Airborne Corps responded by saying that soldiers were not pressured to attend the event, and assured critics that he would provide the same opportunity to non-Christian groups that wanted to host similar events, according to a USA Today report at the time. Garrison Commander Stephen Sicinski provided a similar guarantee in writing, Griffith said.

So Griffith started planning Rock Beyond Belief. The process was bumpy — and bureaucratic — but the event was eventually approved for April 2011.

But when he learned that the forum set aside for the event would hold only a few hundred people — "a broom closet" in his estimation — he canceled it. Arguing that Dawkins, a noted genetics scientist and atheist celebrity, alone routinely pulls much larger crowds than that, he reapplied for a bigger venue this year, and won approval for the March 31 gathering, a year later.

Rock Beyond Belief has drawn some fierce criticism. Army Chaplain Chuck Williams, for example, posted an open letter on Fort Bragg’s Facebook page calling for cancelation of the event, which he contended is being held only "to secure a public, government-owned venue to ridicule, mock and disparage those of our fellow Soldiers and family members who do profess a faith in God."

He also wrote that "part of this event will be glorifying violence against people who possess a faith in God through the burning of churches," a reference to lyrics from a song by Aiden. "This is appalling!"

Griffith blames a Fox News commentary by Todd Starnes for the furor, charging that he misunderstood the lyrics, which were satirical. The band’s lead singer wrote that the song “Hysteria” was actually a condemnation of faith-on-faith violence and hatred.

Although the event appears set to go forward, the debate continues. Griffith said he has received "bizarre death threats," but he also feels the conversation is changing, and putting Fort Bragg in a new light.

"I’m so proud of Fort Bragg and this is not supposed to be a black eye to them," he said. "These little corrections are important, and the Army deserves them. I want to know if I have crumbs on my face. That’s what this is. If it’s a big deal it’s only temporarily a big deal."

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