[californiadisasters] 4 Marines Killed in Training Exercise at Camp Pendleton

The names of the Marines will be released once their families have been notified

By Monica Garske, R. Stickney and Greg Bledsoe | KNBC-TV Los Angeles

|  Wednesday, Nov 13, 2013  |  Updated 10:41 PM PST

Four U.S. Marines were killed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County Wednesday morning during a range maintenance operation, base officials confirmed.

According to Camp Pendleton officials, the deadly incident happened around 11 a.m. At this point, few details have been released about what actually occurred.

NBC News reports that a U.S. military official said the incident involved the detonation of some unexploded ordnance on a range at the base. The Marines involved in the accident were Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines, NBC News reported.

NBC News sources inside the Pentagon said the Marines were not clearing the range, but instead doing some sort of training when the deadly detonation occurred.

An official from the public affairs office told NBC 7 San Diego that the incident happened in the Zulu impact area, which is located roughly at the center of the base. The impact area is where Marines fire artillery and drop bombs from aircraft.

The official said there was artillery training on base Wednesday, but not in that specific area. He said there was no firing going on at the Zulu impact area at the time of the fatal incident.

The official also clarified what is meant by the term "range maintenance," saying it's a fairly broad term used to describe a variety of upkeep on those firing ranges and can include anything from mowing the grass to actually clearing artillery.

Officials said they are now in the process of notifying the families of the Marines killed on base. The names of the deceased Marines will be released once their families are notified.

Brig. Gen. John W. Bullard, Commanding General, Marine Corps Installations West - Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, released the following statement Wednesday:

"We offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families of the Marines lost today in this tragic accident. Our first priority is to provide the families with the support they need during this difficult time."

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

This isn't the first deadly training incident involving Camp Pendleton-based U.S. Marines.

This past February, a Camp Pendleton-based Marine died in an active-duty training exercise in Riverside County. The Marine was skydiving as part of training and went down near the Perris Valley Airport.

In December 2012, a 23-year-old U.S. Marine died in a car accident during a training exercise aboard Camp Pendleton.

In February 2012, a tragic helicopter collision killed seven U.S. Marines during a training exercise in Yuma, Ariz. Of those Marines killed in the chopper crash, six were from Camp Pendleton, while one was based at MCAS Yuma.

In September 2011, a helicopter crashed on the northeast corner of Camp Pendleton, killing two U.S. Marines and sparking a brush fire.

Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/Marines-Killed-Maintenance-Incident-Camp-Pendleton-231808091.html

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/derkimster
Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kim-noyes/9/3a1/2b8
Follow me on Twitter @DisasterKim

__._,_.___

Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___