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UPDATED: Marine Corps Suspends General Over Deadly AAV Accident, Navy Launches Own Investigation
May 3, 2021 8:01 PM
Maj. Gen. Robert Castellvi
This post has been updated to include a statement from the U.S. Navy.
The Marine Corps recently suspended a two-star general as it continues an investigation into last year’s fatal Amphibious Assault Vehicle accident that left eight Marines and one sailor dead.
During a hearing in front of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee today, Marine Corps assistant commandant Gen. Gary Thomas told lawmakers that Maj. Gen. Robert Castellvi, who recently became the service’s inspector general, had been suspended. Castellvi led the 1st Marine Division when an AAV sank in the waters near San Clemente Island during training last July.
A tragedy at sea last summer that left nine young men dead has stirred questions about accountability and the power Congress has over the U.S. military’s training and equipment standards.
The U.S. flag was lowered to half-staff at Park Semper Fi in San Clemente, Calif., on July 31, 2020, after a seafaring military assault vehicle sank off the coast of Southern California. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (CN) The drowning deaths of nine young servicemen who plummeted to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after being trapped inside a decrepit amphibious assault vehicle demand an immediate culture shift inside the Marine Corps and Navy, lawmakers told senior military officials Monday.
16 OAKLAND, Calif. (April 17, 2021) - The Navy commissioned Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Oakland (LCS 24) during a ceremony, April 17.
Navy leaders, Oakland city officials and a socially distanced audience attended the ceremony for the third ship in naval service to be named in honor of the city of Oakland. The first USS Oakland was a transport cargo ship commissioned in 1918. The second Oakland was a light cruiser that served in World War II, earning nine battle stars.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Harker delivered the ceremony’s principal address.
“We now have a finished warship behind us that is ready to be placed into commission,” said Harker. “This ship is a marvel of engineering, which will extend our capabilities for any mission across the blue water, from shoreline to shoreline.”
U S Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS Oakland Joins Fleet miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Super Corvette: Former Navy Secretary Reveals He Pushed to Rename Littoral Combat Ship
USS Montgomery (LCS 8) transits from Naval Base San Diego to the Pacific Ocean to conduct routine operations and training, June 26, 2018. Littoral combat ships are high-speed, agile, shallow draft, mission-focused surface combatants designed for operations in the littoral environment, yet fully capable of open ocean operations. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Muckley Photography)
17 Apr 2021
When the littoral combat ship was first delivered in 2008, former Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said he was not a fan. I wasn t a fan of it at its inception, but I ve become a big fan of it, Braithwaite said this week.