Posted on 02/23/2006 4:19:09 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – A Marine instructor accused of negligence in the 2005 drowning of a recruit was found not guilty by a military court at Parris Island, S.C., late yesterday. The court-martial of Staff Sgt. Nadya Lopez, 27, began Feb. 21, Maj. Guillermo Canedo, a spokesman at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, told American Forces Press Service today during a telephone interview.
"The court found that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction under the charge of negligent homicide against Lopez," Canedo said.
Lopez, a 12-year Marine veteran, pleaded not guilty in the events surrounding the Feb. 8, 2005, drowning death of 19-year-old recruit Jason Tharp, who died during water survival training at the base, Canedo said.
"The accidental drowning death of recruit Jason Tharp has been thoroughly, completely investigated and considered in court," Canedo said. No one else, he said, is pending charges in connection with the incident.
If convicted, Lopez could have faced the maximum punishment of three years confinement, a dishonorable discharge, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances, Canedo said. Marine Maj. Mark J. Griffith, a military judge, presided over the trial, he said.
Tharp's death prompted a series of investigations, Canedo said, after which the charge of negligent homicide was brought against Lopez at an Article 32 hearing under the military's system of law, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice. An Article 32 hearing can be compared to a civilian grand jury hearing.
Over the course of the investigations, several other Marine instructors at Parris Island were found to have committed possible acts of misconduct or violations of standard operating procedure, Canedo said. Most of those violations weren't related to the Tharp incident, he said.
However, one instructor struck Tharp on the chest with his elbow the day before the recruit's death, Canedo said, while another indicated that he would throw Tharp into the pool if he didn't get in. All were charged and disciplined through nonjudicial punishment for violations of the standard operating procedure, Canedo said.
Canedo said the coroner's report attributed Tharp's death to "drowning, best characterized as accidental."
Tharp was in his 25th day of training and on his fifth day of water survival training at the time of his death, Canedo said.
Eighteen video cameras have been installed in the base's pool complex since Tharp's death, and a Marine Corps water survival instructor-qualified officer now oversees pool management and safety, Canedo said. About 500 recruits are given water training at the Parris Island pool each week, he said. About 18,000 Marine recruits undergo training at Parris Island each year.
The last time a recruit died during water training was during the early 1990s, Canedo said. That person, he noted, had a heart condition.
The Marine Corps takes pride on taking care of its people, including recruits, Canedo said. "We demand the utmost professionalism and discipline from those who have earned the right to train recruits," ha said. "The Marine Corps is, at its core, a brotherhood where Marines look out for and take care of one another.
"That said, recruit training is exceedingly safe, but not risk-free. The business of training for war implies risks that we all accept and work to mitigate," he said.
Results of Action under the UCMJ!
A much less biased article then the one written for SFgate.
I wish the military would focus on abusing terrorists rather than their own troops.
""That said, recruit training is exceedingly safe, but not risk-free. The business of training for war implies risks that we all accept and work to mitigate," he said."
I remember going through the infiltration course at Fort Knox many many years ago.
Back then infiltration course consisted of barbed wire obstacles over a sand and water course. The troops had to crawl the length of this course while live machine gun fire was sprayed over your head. I seem to recall we did it during the day and again at night.
Near the end of basic training I won the Colonels orderly competition and got to spend the say with the battalion commander. During that day he went to the infiltration course to observe a company of troops go through the course.
I remember he told that that fairly often a troop would panic and try to get up and get killed or badly wounded by the machine gun fire. He also said many lives in combat were saved because troops had been exposed to live fire in basic training.
He said more lives would be lost in combat if the training was eliminated to save the lives of those who panic and get killed.
I think he was right. If training is made safe enough so that no one ever dies in training, then many will die in combat from lack of training that could have saved their lives.
AMEN
Teaching a Future Marine how to tread water with a pack and a rifle is abuse?
This recruit was on his fifth day of water survival training, or in other words on his fifth day at the pool, he drowned during what had to be his test to qualify as "WSQ" or Water Safety Qualified as I was once tested.
This recruit was having trouble adapting and wanted to go home, I suspect he decided to drown just enough so that he would get kicked out of the Marines.
It didn't work out the way he planned.
I *really* like the tagline.
When I went through that, I don't recall that we had packs and rifles. The philosophy at the time was IIRC, if your ship just sank, lose the gear and the weapon. Use your blouse to create a flotation device. We can rearm and re-equip you- we do need you back. We jumped off of a mocked up ship's side in full utilities and stay afloat for some number of minutes. I was quite comfortable with swimming at the time, but I recall the swim qual being quite a challenge. I think I qualified Second Class.
But then we had muskets, which are useless if your powder is wet. :-)
I'm referring to the habit of bringing up soldiers on charges for any mistake.
The Denham family who lived up the block, lost their eldest son to the same fate - "accidental drowning" at Parris Island.
In his case, the DI was found guilty, but it never brings the deceased one back. There were promises of improved training techniques, and to ease up when fatigue becomes obvious.
Given the rigors of basic at Parris Island, it sounds as thought they've returned to overworking the recruits.
I can only hope that this incident forces them to reevaluate their procedures and methods, once again.
I know - the Marines are tough, but do they have to keep killing them before they can finish training?
As you should be and forever remain.
In the 50s they used to tell the new recruits in a company of 100 to look around as 4 of them would be going home in a box before graduation because they didn't listen. Don't know if that became fact but that was what they told them; so I'm told.
BTT
If that were the case then more than one in 20,000 recruits would be dying, they aren't.
but do they have to keep killing them before they can finish training?
What an asinine statement. I doubt you know much about recruit training or what kind of recruit Tharp was.
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