Tag Archives: San Clemente Island

Hearing Begins for Battalion Commander's Role in Fatal 2020 AAV Sinking

Hearing Begins for Battalion Commander’s Role in Fatal 2020 AAV Sinking

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Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, operate an AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicle while embarking the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) during training to increase Navy-Marine Corps interoperability in the eastern Pacific.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A board of officers convened this week to determine whether the officer who led the infantry battalion involved in the fatal 2020 sinking of an Amphibious Assault Vehicle should be discharged from the Marine Corps or allowed to continue to serve. Read More →

BREAKING: Marines Keeping AAVs Out of the Water Permanently

BREAKING: Marines Keeping AAVs Out of the Water Permanently

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Marines with Marine Rotational Force Europe 21.1 (MRF-E), Marine Forces Europe and Africa, conduct a live-fire range using Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) in Blatindan, Norway, March 16, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps will keep its fleet of decades-old Amphibious Assault Vehicles out of the water except in emergencies, the service announced on Wednesday. Read More →

Navy Probe Finds No Direct Link Between Actions of USS Somerset Crew and Fatal AAV Accident

Navy Probe Finds No Direct Link Between Actions of USS Somerset Crew and Fatal AAV Accident

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Marine Corps AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicle driver with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, drives an AAV-P7/A1 up the well deck ramp of the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) during training to increase Navy-Marine Corps interoperability in the eastern Pacific on July 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

This post has been updated with additional information on the administrative action taken by the Navy and Marine Corps.

A Navy-ordered investigation into the service’s role in the 2020 fatal sinking of a Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle that killed nine found faulty assumptions, confused command roles and communications, conflicting policies, gaps in amphibious warfare training and certification, deficient doctrine, and poorly maintained vehicles. Read More →

Marine Corps IG Removed, 'Counseled' for Failures as 1st MARDIV CO Following Fatal AAV Sinking Investigation

Marine Corps IG Removed, ‘Counseled’ for Failures as 1st MARDIV CO Following Fatal AAV Sinking Investigation

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Maj. Gen. Robert Castellvi

The Marine Corps inspector general – who last month was suspended from the role as the service’s watchdog – won’t be returning to the job after Gen. David Berger last week formally “counseled” him for his “failure” to properly train and evaluate a platoon whose amphibious assault vehicle sank during a training exercise off southern California last summer. Read More →

CMC Berger: New Investigations Into Fatal AAV Mishap Seek To 'Prevent a Similar Tragedy'

CMC Berger: New Investigations Into Fatal AAV Mishap Seek To ‘Prevent a Similar Tragedy’

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Gen. David Berger, Commandant of the Marine Corps, observes a simulated casualty response demonstration by U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen with the 15th Marine Expeditionary unit during a tour aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) on April 17, 2021. US Navy Photo

A command investigation into the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit – the Camp Pendleton, Calif.,-based force that lost nine members when their amphibious assault vehicle sank training at sea last July – has been completed and is pending review by the acting Navy secretary, the Marine Corps commandant said Wednesday. Read More →

Marines: Limited AAV Operations on Water Resume As Vehicle Inspections, Unit Certifications Required in Fatal Sinking Aftermath

Marines: Limited AAV Operations on Water Resume As Vehicle Inspections, Unit Certifications Required in Fatal Sinking Aftermath

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Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 21.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, conduct a safety of use memorandum (SOUM) on an assault amphibious vehicle in preparation for Exercise Reindeer II, Reindeer I, and Joint Viking in Setermoen, Norway, Nov. 19, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

Amphibious assault vehicle crews at Camp Pendleton, Calif., recently put their amtracs back in the water, the first operational unit to do so after the Marine Corps lifted a suspension that has been in place since last year’s deadly mishap off Southern California. Read More →

Marines Launch Investigation into 15th MEU After Fatal AAV Incident

Marines Launch Investigation into 15th MEU After Fatal AAV Incident

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Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, operate AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicles into the well deck of the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) on July 27, 2020. US Marines Photo

The Marine Corps has begun a deeper investigation into the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, after an amphibious assault vehicle sank last year during an integrated Marine Corps-Navy exercise off Southern California killing nine, the service announced Tuesday. Read More →

Investigation: 7-Month-Long ‘Chain of Failure’ Led to 9 Killed in AAV Sinking

Investigation: 7-Month-Long ‘Chain of Failure’ Led to 9 Killed in AAV Sinking

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Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, operate AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicles into the well deck of the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) on July 27, 2020. US Marines Photo

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – The July drowning deaths of eight Marines and a sailor who sank with their amphibious assault vehicle off a California island were the result of poor training, a vehicle in “horrible condition,” and lapsed safety procedures in a rush to deploy an operational AAV platoon, according to a command investigation of the incident reviewed this week by USNI News. Read More →

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