WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- President Bush has approved the Army 's request to execute a soldier convicted of rape and murder , the White House announced Monday evening . Pvt . Ronald Gray , seen here in 1988 , has been on the military 's death row for 20 years . Pvt . Ronald Gray has been on the military 's death row at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , since 1988 . His execution would be the first for the U.S. military since 1961 , but the White House said it expects further appeals before the sentence is carried out . `` While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander-in-chief , the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted , '' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said . Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg , North Carolina . He was also convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at Fort Bragg . `` The president 's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these heinous crimes and their families and all others affected , '' Perino said . Both military and civilian courts found Gray responsible for the crimes committed between April 1986 and January 1987 . Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in a civilian court and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms . A general court-martial at the Army 's Fort Bragg then tried him and in April 1988 convicted him of two murders , an attempted murder and three rapes . He was unanimously sentenced to death . 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 . Military courts have not yet set an execution date for Gray , who can still appeal through civilian federal courts . The Army also has sought Bush 's authorization to execute another condemned soldier , Pvt . Dwight Loving , who was convicted of killing and robbing two cab drivers in 1988 . The last U.S. military execution was in 1961 , when Army private John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl . Bennett was sentenced in 1955 . The U.S. military has n't actively pursued an execution for a military prisoner since President John F. Kennedy commuted a death sentence in 1962 . Six men are currently on military death row . Bush allowed 152 executions as governor of Texas and has signed off on three executions of federal inmates since he became president -- including that of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh , who was put to death in 2001 . CNN 's Bill Mears contributed to this report .
The OK 's Army 's request to execute a soldier convicted of treason , failed . Pvt . David Gray has been on the military 's death row in Afghanistan since 1988 . White House said it expects further appeals before the sentence is carried out .