Two Marines are lifeless and 17 extra are injured after the tactical automobile they have been driving rolled over Wednesday in Jacksonville, N.C., the service introduced late within the night.
The Marine Corps mentioned the deceased have been pronounced lifeless on the scene whereas two Marines have been transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Heart in Wilmington, N.C., the place they have been in important situation. The remaining 15 Marines have been taken to the Naval Medical Heart at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the place they have been listed in steady situation.
All of the casualties have been active-duty Marines with 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Drive, primarily based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, the assertion mentioned.
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The Marines have been driving a medium tactical automobile substitute (MTVR) – usually known as a “7-ton” – when it rolled close to the intersection of North Carolina Freeway 210 and U.S. Freeway 17.
The motive force of the automobile, a 19-year-old Marine, was charged with misdemeanor loss of life by motorized vehicle and exceeding a protected velocity, based on NBC News.
Sgt. Devin Wealthy, a spokesman for the North Carolina Freeway Patrol, informed reporters that the automobile was touring “a bit too quick for the appropriate flip that they have been trying to make.”
2nd Marine Logistics Group mentioned that they have been “grateful to all first responders that offered assist to our service members.”
Automobile rollovers and, extra broadly, automobile accidents outdoors of fight zones, have claimed the lives of dozens of service members in recent times.
A report from the Authorities Accountability Workplace, or GAO, launched in July 2021, discovered 123 troopers and Marines died in 3,753 non-combat tactical automobile incidents between 2010 and 2019. The report blamed overconfidence, complacency and driver error for tactical automobile mishaps that largely occurred in comparatively protected circumstances throughout the day.
The report discovered that rollovers have been by far the deadliest sort of accident. Regardless of being accountable for one-quarter of the accidents, they accounted for 63% of the deaths reviewed within the research.
Brig. Gen. Andrew Hilmes, commander of the Army’s Fight Readiness Heart and director of Army security, informed Navy.com in an interview in November that “floor automobile mishaps are the primary killer of our troopers.”
The annual protection coverage invoice signed into legislation final month seeks to scale back automobile coaching accidents by requiring the Army and Marine Corps to implement the suggestions of the July GAO report.
The Army and Marine Corps have 180 days from the date the protection invoice grew to become legislation in December to ship Congress a plan on implementing the suggestions, which included extra clearly outlined roles for automobile commanders, procedures to assist supervisors improve tactical automobile security, and efficiency standards and measurable requirements for driver coaching packages. The companies have 18 months to truly implement the adjustments.
“The intense deficiencies and failures in tactical automobile coaching required instant motion,” Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who sponsored the automobile coaching security provision within the protection invoice, mentioned in a December assertion after it was handed by the Home. “The lack of a single American soldier is tragic, and the continued lack of service members in coaching accidents is totally unacceptable.”
The protection invoice additionally creates a joint council of all of the army departments to replace security laws and calls on the Army to report back to Congress on the feasibility of utilizing information recording units on fight autos, much like black bins on airplanes.
The Marine Corps mentioned that it’s not releasing any of the names of the injured victims, citing privateness laws, however the names of the deceased will probably be launched 24 hours after notification of subsequent of kin.
— Konstantin Toropin might be reached at konstantin.toropin@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @ktoropin.
— Rebecca Kheel might be reached at rebecca.kheel@army.com. Observe her on Twitter @reporterkheel.
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