Navy secretary censures officers for failures in fatal disaster at sea

Del Toro censured some officers who have been removed from their careers shortly soon after the sinking, but expanded culpability to involve Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, who was about to phase down and retire the day the catastrophe happened. Osterman was “responsible for mitigating the inherent challenges in operations and teaching,” Del Toro wrote, and “did not thoroughly appreciate the prospective negative impact” of the coronavirus pandemic on the 15th Maritime Expeditionary Unit, which fell below his command.

“The Marine Corps necessitates its leaders to complete the mission, even in seemingly insurmountable conditions,” Del Toro wrote in his letter to Osterman, dated Sunday. “You failed to identify and mitigate the human, substance, and teaching failures that resulted in this mishap. Accordingly, you are censured for failing to proficiently make certain appropriate degrees of coaching and product readiness in models below your command.”

Lethal Marine Corps disaster at sea was ‘tragic’ and ‘preventable,’ investigation finds

The other officers censured contain Marine Col. Christopher Bronzi, then-commanding officer of the 15th Maritime Expeditionary Unit Navy Capt. Stewart Bateshansky, who oversaw an amphibious endeavor associated Navy Capt. John Kurtz, then-commanding officer of the USS Somerset and Lt. Col. Keith Brenize, then-commanding officer of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion. All held management roles, and Kurtz oversaw the ship from which the car was released while at sea.

Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, a spokesman for Del Toro, said in an electronic mail that the secretary made the decision to make the final decision immediately after a “careful evaluate of the command investigations and discussions with senior leaders” within the Navy Department.

The censured officers could not instantly be achieved for remark.

The Maritime Corps previously discovered that the 35-12 months-aged armored motor vehicle — intended to carry Marines ashore in battle — endured many leaks and came from a fleet of automobiles that was in bad problem. Strains made by the pandemic complex the schooling schedules of the Marines concerned, the assistance located.

The useless integrated Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, 18, of Corona, Calif. Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, Calif. Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, Wis. Navy Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, Calif. Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, Ore. Lance Cpl. Guillermo S. Perez, 20, of New Braunfels, Tex Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Tex. Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 18, of Portland, Ore. Cpl. Cesar A. Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, Calif.