SECNAV Censures Retired Marine General, Navy Officers Over 2020 Fatal AAV Sinking

Secretary of the Navy censured five officers related to the 2020 AAV sinking off California. Clockwise from top left: Capt. J.W. David Kurtz, retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, Lt. Col. Keith Brenize , Capt. Stewart Bateshansky, Col. Christopher Bronzi. USNI News Photo Graphic

The Navy’s top civilian leader issued formal administrative punishments to five senior officers for their part in the fatal 2020 sinking of a Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle that killed eight Marines and a Navy...

Hearing Begins for Battalion Commander’s Role in Fatal 2020 AAV Sinking

Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, operate an AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicle while embarking the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) during training to increase Navy-Marine Corps interoperability in the eastern Pacific.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A board of officers convened this week to determine whether the officer who led the infantry battalion involved in the fatal 2020 sinking of an Amphibious Assault Vehicle should be...

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/04/hearing-begins-for-battalion-commanders-role-in-fatal-2020-aav-sinking

BREAKING: Marines Keeping AAVs Out of the Water Permanently

Marines with Marine Rotational Force Europe 21.1 (MRF-E), Marine Forces Europe and Africa, conduct a live-fire range using Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) in Blatindan, Norway, March 16, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps will keep its fleet of decades-old Amphibious Assault Vehicles out of the water except in only emergencies, the service announced on Wednesday.

The water ban on the AAVs makes permanent restrictions the Marines placed on the 1970s vintage amphibious armored personnel...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/15/breaking-marines-keeping-aavs-out-of-the-water-permanently

Navy Probe Finds No Direct Link Between Actions of USS Somerset Crew and Fatal AAV Accident

Marine Corps AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicle driver with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, drives an AAV-P7/A1 up the well deck ramp of the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) during training to increase Navy-Marine Corps interoperability in the eastern Pacific on July 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

A Navy-ordered investigation into the service’s role in the 2020 fatal sinking of a Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle that killed nine...

Makin Island ARG, 15th MEU Return to California

USS Makin Island (LHD-8), front, expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) and the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) sail in formation during a Strait of Hormuz transit on March 17, 2021. US Navy Photo

The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit are back in California after seven months at sea, U.S. 3rd Fleet announced on Friday.

USS Makin Island (LHD-8), USS San Diego (LPD-22) and USS Somerset (LPD-25)...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/21/makin-island-arg-15th-meu-return-to-california

Marines: Limited AAV Operations on Water Resume As Vehicle Inspections, Unit Certifications Required in Fatal Sinking Aftermath

Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 21.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, conduct a safety of use memorandum (SOUM) on an assault amphibious vehicle in preparation for Exercise Reindeer II, Reindeer I, and Joint Viking in Setermoen, Norway, Nov. 19, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

Amphibious assault vehicle crews at Camp Pendleton, Calif., recently put their amtracs back in the water, the first operational unit to do so after the Marine Corps lifted a suspension that has been in place since...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/21/marines-limited-aav-operations-on-water-resume-as-vehicle-inspections-unit-certifications-required-in-fatal-sinking-aftermath

Makin Island ARG, 15th MEU Leaves Middle East for INDO-PACOM, Eisenhower Supporting Anti-ISIS Fight from Mediterranean

Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Michael Eberhart, assigned to the amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD-25), watches the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) maneuver past the Somerset in the Gulf of Oman on March 23, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and 15th Marine Expeditionary Group left the Middle East this week and are operating in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. 7th Fleet confirmed to USNI News on Thursday.

The three-ship amphibious ready...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/01/makin-island-arg-15th-meu-leaves-middle-east-for-indo-pacom-eisenhower-supporting-anti-isis-fight-from-mediterranean

Investigation: 7-Month-Long ‘Chain of Failure’ Led to 9 Killed in AAV Sinking

Marines with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, operate AAV-P7/A1 assault amphibious vehicles into the well deck of the amphibious landing dock USS Somerset (LPD-25) on July 27, 2020. US Marines Photo

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – The July drowning deaths of eight Marines and a sailor who sank with their amphibious assault vehicle off a California island were the result of poor training, a vehicle in “horrible condition,” and lapsed safety procedures in a rush...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/25/investigation-7-month-long-chain-of-failure-led-to-9-killed-in-aav-sinking