The American soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians last week was a battlefield hero but struggled with life in the states, according to records and people he served with.



Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 38, who sits in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., is expected to be charged in the massacre this week.



He is believed to have sneaked off his Kandahar base after a night of drinking March 11 and then fatally shot nine children and seven adults in their homes. Eleven of the victims were from the same family, according to military officials.



The killing spree has badly strained U.S.-Afghan relations and upended the American mission there.



Family members of American soldiers deployed in Afghanistan worried that the killing spree would put their loved ones in greater danger.



"I definitely think that it makes him more of a target," John Premo said of his son, who serves in Bales' unit.



Capt. Chris Alexander, who served with Bales for 15 months in Iraq, said that he remembered him as was a "very solid" soldier.



Alexander recalled that Bales shot a man in Mosul, Iraq, who was aiming a rocket-propelled grenade at his platoon's vehicle.



"There's no doubt he saved lives that day," Alexander said.



But back at the Tacoma, Wash., base, where Bales' 3rd Stryker Brigade was stationed, the sergeant had some difficulties.



In October 2008, the 11-year vet flipped his car in the Tacoma suburb of Sumner. Witnesses reported seeing a man in military uniform with a shaved head fleeing into the woods, according to court records.



When police found him later, huddled in the woods, Bales said he had fallen asleep at the wheel. He paid $1,000 in fines and the case was dismissed. It is unclear if alcohol was involved.



Bales, a married father of two young children, tried to put down roots twice near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.



But two years ago, the family abandoned a house they owned in Auburn, local homeowners association President Bob Baggett said.



"They were not dependable. When they left there were vehicle parts left on the front yard . . . We'd given up on the owner," Baggett said.



The Bales were also struggling to make payments on the Tapps Lake home where they currently live.



Bales' wife, Karilyn, put the house up for sale a few days after the killings, real estate agent Philip Rodocker told The New York Times.



"She told him she was behind in our payments," he told the paper.



The military has moved Bales' wife and children to a secure location for fear of retribution against them.



"This is a bad time for us," said Peter Primeau, the soldier's father-in-law.



With News Wire Services



mlysiak@nydailynews.com