R 140830Z JUN 01
FM CMC WASHINGTON DC//CMC//
TO ALMAR
BT
UNCLAS //N05000//
ALMAR 027/01
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC/CMC//
SUBJ/MAY 2001 SAFETY SUMMARY//
RMKS/1. DURING THE MONTH OF MAY 2001, FOUR ACTIVE DUTY MARINES
DIED DUE TO GROUND RELATED MISHAPS AND TWO DIED FROM AVIATION (ON AND
OFF DUTY) RELATED MISHAPS. TWO MARINES DIED FROM SUSPECTED SUICIDES,
AND 15 ACTIVE DUTY, AND ONE RESERVIST ENROUTE TO DRILL, SUFFERED
SIGNIFICANT INJURIES. THE FOLLOWING PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF OUR
CASUALTIES FOR THE MONTH OF MAY:
A. FATALITIES
ON DUTY:
1. SGT FROM 1ST FORCE RECONNAISSANCE COMPANY DIED DURING A NIGHT
PARACHUTE JUMP ABOARD CAMP PENDLETON, CA.
2. 2NDLT WAITING TO START FLIGHT SCHOOL WAS ON PTAD ORDERS TO NAS
LEMOORE, CA DIED WHEN THE T-34C HE WAS RIDING IN CRASHED NEAR EL
CENTRO, CA. THE NAVY PILOT WAS ALSO KILLED.
OFF DUTY:
1. LCPL FROM MCSF BATTALION, NORFOLK, VA LOST CONTROL OF HIS
MOTORCYCLE AND DIED OF HIS INJURIES.
2. SGT FROM HMLA-169, WHO WAS A CIVILIAN RATED PILOT, WAS FLYING
WITH A NAVY LTJG IN A CIVILIAN T-34B OUT OF NAS, NORTH ISLAND FLYING
CLUB. BOTH PILOTS DIED WHEN THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED.
3. CPL FROM 5TH BN, 10TH MAR, 2D MAR DIV, CAMP LEJEUNE, NC DIED IN
A SINGLE MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT, WHILE ON TERMINAL LEAVE.
4. CPL FROM MWSS 272 WAS TRAVELING IN A VEHICLE DRIVEN BY HER
HUSBAND WHICH WAS STRUCK BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. CPL WAS PRONOUNCED
DEAD ON THE SCENE. HER HUSBAND DIED ENROUTE TO THE HOSPITAL.
B. MISHAPS THAT RESULTED IN SERIOUS INJURIES:
ON DUTY:
1. LCPL FROM H&HS, MCAS NEW RIVER, NC WAS INJURED WHILE DRIVING AN
EASY GO. SNM LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND IMPACTED AN UNLOADING
RAMP, BREAKING HIS LEG. A STEEL ROD WILL BE INSERTED IN HIS LEG
AND HE FACES EXTENDED LIGHT DUTY.
2. LCPL FROM MSSG-31, 31ST MEU WAS TRAVELING IN A HMMWV WHICH STRUCK
THE BACK OF A 5-TON TRUCK. THE LCPL SUSTAINED HEAD AND NECK TRAUMA.
TWO OTHER MARINES INVOLVED SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES.
3. 2NDLT FROM INFANTRY OFFICERS COURSE WAS SHOT IN THE LEG DURING A
LIVE FIRE EXERCISE, CAUSING A COMPOUND FRACTURE.
4. ELEVEN MARINES (2XCPL, 7XLCPL, 2XPFC) FROM 2D SUPBN, 2D
MAINT BN WERE RIDING IN A HMMWV THAT OVERTURNED. ONE LCPL WAS
INJURED AND ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL FOR OBSERVATION. THE OTHER 10
MARINES RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES.
5. CPL INSTRUCTOR FROM SCHOOL OF INFANTRY MCB, CAMP PENDLETON, CA
WAS INJURED WHEN A .50 CALIBER MACHINEGUN MALFUNCTIONED, ABNORMALLY
EJECTING A CARTRIDGE THAT CAUSED A LACERATION TO HIS LEFT THIGH.
OFF DUTY:
DURING THE MONTH OF MAY, EIGHT MARINES WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN
AUTOMOBILE RELATED MISHAPS. OVER HALF OF THOSE INJURIES CAME FROM
COLLISIONS WITH OTHER VEHICLES. ONE MARINE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED
WHEN HE WAS EJECTED FROM THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK. ANOTHER MARINE
CRASHED HIS CAR AND FRACTURED HIS SPINE. HE WORE NO SEATBELT, AND
IS NOW A PARAPALEGIC. TWO OTHER MARINES WERE INJURED IN MOTORCYCLE
ACCIDENTS.
2. AVIATION:
NO MISHAPS THIS MONTH. MARINE AVIATION CONTINUES TO EXCEL. OUR
CLASS A MISHAP RATE IS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN
THIS LATE IN THE FISCAL YEAR. BZ TO THE ACE!
3. MIXED NEWS:
A. LAST YEAR DURING THE MONTH OF MAY, FIVE MARINES DIED IN GROUND
RELATED MISHAPS. THREE DIED IN PRIVATE MOTOR VEHICLE (PMV) MISHAPS,
ONE IN A MOTORCYCLE MISHAP, AND ONE IN AN OPS/TRNG MISHAP. THIS
YEAR, EIGHT ACTIVE DUTY MARINES DIED IN MAY, TWO OF WHICH WERE
SUICIDES.
B. FOR THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF FY01, 46 MARINES HAVE DIED IN ON
AND OFF DUTY MISHAPS. LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME, 89 MARINES HAD DIED.
THIS IS A TREMENDOUS IMPROVEMENT.
C. SINCE THE LAST WEEK OF APRIL, FIVE MARINES HAVE DIED IN
MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS, AND A SIXTH FACES A PERMANENT DISABILITY.
ALTHOUGH WE HAVE HAD REMARKABLE SUCCESS REDUCING PMV FATALITIES THIS
YEAR TO DATE, IN FIVE SHORT WEEKS FIVE MARINES HAVE DIED DUE TO
MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS. THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IN THESE FATALITIES
WAS SPEED. REMEMBER, YOU ARE RIDING ON ROADWAYS, NOT SPEEDWAYS.
OBEY THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE, AND WEAR YOUR
PPE. YOUR HELMET WON'T SAVE YOUR LIFE, IF YOU ARE NOT WEARING IT.
4. COMMANDERS ENSURE ALL MARINES HAVE READ THIS ALMAR.
5. SEMPER FIDELIS, J. L. JONES, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS,
COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.//
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