This undated image taken from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Fall 2007 newsletter shows Nidal Malik Hasan. Maj. Hasan an Army psychiatrist set to be shipped overseas opened fire Thursday Nov. 5, 2009 at the Fort Hood Army post, authorities said, a rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.(AP Photo/ Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences )

This undated image taken from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Fall 2007 newsletter shows Nidal Malik Hasan. Maj. Hasan an Army psychiatrist set to be shipped overseas opened fire Thursday Nov. 5, 2009 at the Fort Hood Army post, authorities said, a rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.(AP Photo/ Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences )

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WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army spokeswoman says the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan to counsel soldiers suffering from combat stress.

Army spokeswoman Col. Cathy Abbott says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an active-duty military psychiatrist, was to deploy with an Army Reserve unit that provides what the military calls "behavioral health" counseling.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Hasan sought the assignment or was being sent against his wishes.

Authorities say Hasan went on a shooting spree Thursday at the Texas Army post, leaving 13 people dead and 30 wounded.