Marines Fired for Training Exercise Accident That Claimed Seven Lives
Posted on May 9, 2013 Written By: iadminlaw
The Marine Corps has fired three officers for an incident that killed seven marines in Nevada earlier this year. On Wednesday, they announced that the officers were relieved of their duties and that the accident was the main reason.
The marines were a company commander, a weapons officer and a battalion commander. The investigation uncovered that the March 18 accident during a training exercise was the fault of those three men. It involved a 60 mm mortar.
The military has a tradition of holding commanding officers accountable for actions within their unit. Generally when officers are relieved they can remain in the service but are dismissed from their jobs.
“The investigation is not complete but the preliminary findings in the investigation did influence the general’s decision” to remove the officers from their jobs, David said.
Brig. Gen. James Lukeman was the one responsible for relieving the soldiers from duty. The names of the officers have been released as Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, Capt. Kelby Breivogel and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Douglas Derring.
The accident involved a live fire training exercise one night at the Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada.
The nation was shocked and hurt by the news of the seven marine’s deaths. Much ado was made about the cause of the accident. Findings are still coming in as stated above, because the investigation is just in the first stage currently.
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