Marine Corps Issues Service-Wide Safety Review

The order comes days after three Marines were killed when an MV-22 Osprey went down in Australia during a training exercise.

Kimberly Johnson

Friday, September 01, 2023 at 11:33 AM ET

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The MV-22 Osprey’s mission for the U.S. Marine Corps is the transportation of troops, equipment, and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support. [Courtesy: Naval Air Systems Command]

Key Takeaways:

The Marine Corps is conducting a service-wide safety review following a series of fatal training accidents in August, including two aircraft crashes and an infantry training death.
Acting commandant General Eric Smith called for a "thorough and harsh review," emphasizing the need for strict adherence to safety standards and noting the annual loss of a "platoon's worth" of Marines and Sailors to training accidents and off-duty mishaps.
The latest incident involved an MV-22B Osprey crash in Australia, which killed three Marines and injured 20, with the cause still under investigation.
This follows a previous fatal Osprey crash in 2022 attributed to a "hard clutch engagement issue," for which the Marine Corps had implemented various mitigation actions and aircraft upgrades.

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In the wake of two fatal air crashes in as many days this week, the top Marine Corps commander has called for “a thorough and harsh review” of processes in a service-wide safety review.

On August 25, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot was killed when the fighter crashed during a training exercise near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar shortly before midnight. Three Marines were killed and 20 injured two days later when an MV-22B Osprey went down during a training exercise on a remote island in northern Australia on Sunday morning. The accidents followed a fatal accident during infantry training earlier in the month. On Aug. 17, a Marine was killed during a nighttime live-fire training exercise at Camp Pendleton, California.