The Marine Corps' top officer has ordered the service to undergo a safety review in September following the crash of an MV-22 Osprey that killed three Marines during training in Australia, as well as two other deadly mishaps this month.
“We must conduct a thorough and harsh review of our processes to confirm that our culture of safety is still strong,” Gen. Eric Smith, the acting commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote in an administrative message Tuesday.
The Marine Corps has had a notably deadly August. The crash over the weekend that left three Marines dead and three more seriously injured was preceded Thursday by an F/A-18D Hornet crash near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, that killed the pilot. Earlier in August, a lance corporal was killed during a live-fire training event at Camp Pendleton, California.
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A senior Marine official told Military.com that, while the review had been previously scheduled, the recent mishaps prompted Smith to start it sooner.
In his message, Smith ordered commanders and supervisors “at all levels [to] review and document their unit's approach to safety in order to reinforce proper procedures, provide information, and gather feedback for future actions” by Sept. 15.
The vision for the review, as outlined in the memo, is for commands to have group discussions…
