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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.