Posted on 11/25/2002 7:38:32 AM PST by centurion316
Marine Corps Times December 2, 2002 Pg. 8
A String Of Mistakes
Four Marines may be charged in the shooting death of a private how an exercise went wrong
By David Castellon, Times staff writer
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. A Marine sergeant mistakenly loaded his M-4 carbine with live rounds instead of blanks and fatally shot Pfc. Jeremy R. Purcell during an Aug. 28 training accident here, military investigators concluded.
Now, Sgt. Cody W. Ottley could be charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty. And three of his former superiors with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company could face the same or lesser charges after investigators found systemic problems in the way recon Marines stored ammunition and a failure to check that Marines hadnt loaded live rounds for what was to be a blanks-only exercise.
Those findings have had larger repercussions, resulting in new safety procedures at Pendleton that could be adopted Corpswide.
The investigation report portions of which were released Nov. 20 to the media states that Ottley, 27, a rifleman with the Force Recon companys 3rd Platoon with five years in the Corps, fired a burst of rounds at Purcell during the close-quarters combat exercise at Range 131, an urban-combat training site here.
Twenty-nine Force Recon Marines with 3rd Platoon were playing the role of aggressors while Purcell and 10 other members of Military Police Detachment, Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 15, were on the defensive inside a training building.
The exercise was part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Units predeployment work-ups for a planned six-month deployment to the Western Pacific.
Ottley told Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents that during the simulated raid he entered a 12-foot-long room in the building and saw Purcell firing from the corner, so he returned fire.
I immediately noticed the rounds were very loud for blanks, he said in a statement to NCIS agents. As I was still looking through my aim point, I saw Pfc. Purcell hit the wall.
I ran over to him, dropped my magazine and noticed I had inserted a magazine of frangible [live] rounds rather than the blanks the Marines were supposed to use.
In the days following the shooting, base officials confirmed only that one live round was fired and killed the 19-year-old Marine. But during the Nov. 20 press briefing, they revealed that Ottleys rifle loaded with a magazine containing 30 live rounds fired six shots, four of which hit Purcell.
One bullet hit his left shoulder, and three rounds tore through his Interceptor flak jacket and into the left side of his chest, killing him. The shot to the shoulder might not have killed him, but the other three rounds caused significant damage to Purcells heart and lungs, according to autopsy documents provided by I Marine Expeditionary Force.
He made the wrong choice
Frangible, or soft, rounds are designed to break apart when they hit walls or other hard surfaces to prevent ricochets during close-quarters combat. But when the first round hit the metal blank-firing adapter screwed onto the barrel of Ottleys M-4, the adapter shattered instead and the weapon continued to function properly.
That first round didnt go far after hitting the adapter, while the second bullet hit a wall, an official here said. The next four rounds hit Purcell.
Weapons experts who have seen live rounds fired through blank-firing adapters say the weapons typically suffer catastrophic damage, in some cases blowing apart where the weapons upper and lower receivers connect. But Ottleys weapon suffered only minor damage; the rifles flash suppressor was blown off, along with the blank-firing adapter and a targeting device for the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System equipment the Marines were using along with the blank rounds.
The rounds also didnt shatter when they hit Purcells flak jacket. The Marines were not using the ceramic plates that can be inserted into pockets on the front and back of the flak jackets because they wouldnt have been necessary in a blanks-only exercise, said Col. William D. Durrett, staff judge advocate for I MEF. Without the ceramic plates inserted, an Interceptor flak jacket is intended to protect the wearer only from shrapnel and 9 mm rounds; the plates add protection for rounds up to 7.62 mm, according to information published by the Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass.
The recon Marines fired frangible rounds in a live-fire exercise the previous day. But unlike other less-experienced Marines on the base, the Force Recon leathernecks were allowed to store magazines loaded with live or blank rounds overnight with their other gear in 3rd Platoons living area under guard near the urban-training range, according to a statement by I MEF officials.
About 4 p.m. Aug. 28, after wrapping up another live-fire training session, 1st Special Operations Training Group officials told the Marines of 3rd Platoon that they were not to bring live ammunition to the days second exercise, a blanks-only session to be held at the urban-training facility, I MEF officials said in the statement.
Yet when Ottley returned to the 3rd Platoon living area to grab two loaded magazines for the session, one of the magazines was loaded with live, 5.56 mm ammunition.
He made the wrong choice, Durrett said, adding that its not clear why a Force Recon Marine among the Corps most highly trained infantrymen didnt notice the weight difference between the two magazines or why he apparently didnt examine the rounds inside before loading his rifle and notice he had the wrong ammo.
Durrett added that it doesnt appear a buddy check occurred, in which Marines or their field leaders check each others ammo before loading.
It wasnt a procedure with these guys, even though less-experienced Marines at Pendleton commonly do so, Durrett said. You should look at what you put in your magazine at any time, in case there is dirt in there.
Gunnery Sgt. Richard T. Kerkering, platoon sergeant for 3rd Platoon, told safety investigators that considering the experience of the recon leathernecks, if Ottleys team leader took his word that hed properly loaded the weapon rather than doing a visual inspection, I would be comfortable with that.
Ottley, Kerkering, team leader Staff Sgt. Chad R. Chalkey and platoon commander Capt. Andrew T. Horne have been reassigned to other jobs in the Force Recon company while they await a decision by the units commander, Lt. Col. Adam J. Copp. Durrett wouldnt speculate on when Copp might make any decisions.
A frustrated father
Jeremy Purcells father, Jon, is a retired Navy construction battalion Seabee and recalled his own experiences during 21 years of service as he questioned the circumstances that allowed the shooting to happen.
The more information the Marine Corps gives me, the more pissed off I get. Im just madder than hell. The amount of negligence here just astounds me, said Purcell, who was given a copy of the investigation report days before the media.
Purcell, who lives in Provo, Utah, said he couldnt fathom why the procedures for handling ammunition and weapons in his sons company were so lax.
In the first place, live ammunition should have never been stored with personal gear, he said. Its not done at Camp Lejeune. Its not done on Okinawa. You just dont do that. What the hell is with Camp Pendleton?
Even before the investigators findings were disclosed to the Purcell family Nov. 7, Jon Purcell said he suspected safety failures that led to his sons death might involve others in the command.
You could almost describe it as a comedy of errors, but its not one damn bit funny, he said. The shooter, at the very minimum, needs to face negligent-homicide charges. And the others above him, I think dereliction in the performance of duty at the very least Article 15 nonjudicial proceedings.
However those involved might be punished, Jon Purcell, a father of nine, said he and several members of his family want to be there to witness any proceedings. My daughters in Iowa are saving their money to come to this.
Durrett said that until the Aug. 28 accident, This is the first time we knew we had this mixing of ammunition.
It will be the last, officials here say.
Tougher training rules
On Nov. 14, the day before he turned over command of I MEF to become the Marine Corps next commandant, Lt. Gen. Michael W. Hagee authorized a series of changes intended to prevent similar accidents in the future. Those changes include:
** More personnel will be brought in to help range safety officers. Also, the safety officers will not be given additional tasks that would inhibit them from performing their primary duty.
** Different types of rounds must be segregated and stored separately.
** 1st Special Operations Training Group will assume definitive control of ammunition distribution and storage during its training evolutions.
** Two-party verification of ammunition being loaded will be required during training involving blanks.
In addition, Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, I MEFs new commander, ordered on Nov. 20 that units under his command no longer train with live rounds and blanks on the same day.
Durrett said those and other recommendations were sent to senior staff of the Marine Corps, so they can be considered for use at other bases. A first-of-its-kind checklist of range safety officer responsibilities also is being forwarded.
First Sgt. Michael Dechy of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, who was not involved in the Aug. 28 training, said he created the more than 100-item checklist using a combination of existing base regulations and the common-sense things he does when he runs a range.
They include ensuring safety personnel are in place before training begins and making sure all Marines weapons and pockets are checked for extra rounds before they leave.
You would probably do 99.9 percent of those. Some of these are inherent in planning, Dechy said, noting that the list is meant to ensure some things arent forgotten, such as checking that the on-scene ambulance is gassed and its battery is in good shape.
In the meantime, the Purcell family is trying to cope with what they have learned about Jeremys death.
They are upset. I dont know if they will ever come to grips with it, Jon Purcell said. I dont know if I will.
When asked if he planned to take any legal action against the Marines, he said, Let me put it this way: There are attorneys involved. But he wouldnt elaborate.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/765810/posts
that discussed the death of one Marine and wounding of another in Kuwait when they were fired on by Kuwaitis during a training exercise. Many uniformed Freepers argued that the Marines were to blame because they only had blank ammunition and were unable to immediately return fire. This article reveals the potential tragedy in that approach.
Yep. I remember that. I participated in one of those threads. People were going over the top- saying we were crazy for suggesting that the Military shouldn't mix live and blank ammo during a training exercise. This is what happens when you do. Training is intense- it's an adrenal rush. MOUT training is even more so. You act without thinking often. I can well imagine it never entered this Marine SGT's mind what he was doing as he slapped that mag in his weapon.
You can't allow Marines or Soldiers to be running around with both types of ammo at the same time. I'm surprised the barrel didn't explode with the blank adapator in place...
Guess this event is a pretty strong arguement for discouraging that practice.
My sympathies to the dead marine, his family, and also the marine who killed him. very sad.
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