FORT BRAGG, N.C. – A military jury found one of their own guilty of committing domestic violence, specifically battery upon a child under 16 years of age, during a court-martial August 18 – 21 at the Fort Bragg Courthouse.
The accused, Sgt. 1st Class Nathaniel Lightfield, 31, a special forces engineer sergeant with the 3rd Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Command, was sentenced by the military judge to 75 days in prison and a bad conduct discharge from the Army.
Lightfield shares custody of his 3-year-old son with his ex-wife. During a planned visit with the child at his home at Fort Bragg on May 10, 2023, Lightfield violently pushed the head of his 30-pound son into the wall with enough force to cause significant bodily harm.
The child received multiple bruises to his face, forehead, eyes, petechiae (tiny spots of bleeding under the skin) under his eyes, scratches to his face, bloody nose, and injuries to his shoulders and the back of his head.
When Lightfield’s ex-wife arrived to pick up her son, Lightfield told her he didn’t know how the child’s injuries occurred. Concerned, she drove her son to the hospital for treatment.
When being examined, the child told physicians that his father was the one who harmed him which prompted the staff to notify the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
During his interview with Army CID agents, Lightfield admitted to pushing the child into the wall out of anger.
He told them that even though his son was crying and saying “it hurt,” Lightfield continued to push his head into the wall.
After seeing bloody mucus coming from his son’s nose and the petechiae under his eyes, he told investigators he feared his son may have a concussion but declined to seek medical attention.
“Sgt. 1st Class Lightfield’s actions in battering his 3-year-old son out of anger fall far short of the standards we set for our non-commissioned officers and Soldiers,” said Capt. Gabrielle Lucero, prosecutor, Second Circuit, Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. “Soldiers are meant to protect the most vulnerable, not harm them. This case sends the message to all Soldiers that regardless of rank, unit of assignment, or work performance, they are Soldiers 24/7 and will be held accountable for domestic violence.”
Lightfield is currently incarcerated at the Harnett County Detention Center and is awaiting orders to be transferred to a military corrections facility.
The investigation was conducted by the Army CID Carolinas Field Office and was prosecuted by Lucero and two trial counsel from the 1st Special Forces Command, Fort Bragg.
The Army Office of Special Trial Counsel is comprised of specially trained military lawyers, legal professionals and support staff responsible for the expert and independent prosecution of murder, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, kidnapping and other serious criminal offenses. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., OSTC has eight regional headquarters that oversee 28 field offices located across the country to include Europe and Korea. For more information visit https://www.army.mil/ostc.
If you would like to report a crime, have information about a crime, or have been the subject or survivor of a crime, you can submit anonymous tips to Army CID at https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=325.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2025 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 547782 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG , NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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