court and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms . The general court-martial at Fort Bragg then tried him and in April 1988 convicted him of two murders , an attempted murder and three rapes . In July , President George W. Bush approved the Army 's request to execute Gray . `` The president took action following completion of a full appellate process , which upheld the conviction and sentence to death , '' the Army said in the news release . `` Two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court were denied during the appellate processing of Pvt. Gray 's case . '' Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history , but just 10 have been executed with presidential approval since 1951 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice , the military 's modern-day legal system . The Army also sought Bush 's authorization to execute another condemned soldier , Pvt. Dwight Loving , who was convicted of robbing and killing two cab drivers in 1988 . The last U.S. military execution was in 1961 , when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A U.S. soldier convicted of rape and murder two decades ago will be executed December 10 in the nation 's first military execution since 1961 , the Army said Thursday . Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military 's death row at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , since 1988 . A court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg , North Carolina , unanimously convicted him of committing two murders and other crimes in the Fayetteville , North Carolina , area , and sentenced him to death . Gray 's execution by injection will be carried out by Fort Leavenworth soldiers at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute , Indiana , the Army said in a news release . Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg . He was also convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at the post . Both military and civilian courts found Gray responsible for the crimes , which were committed between April 1986 and January 1987 . Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in a civilian