Marines’ new water vehicle is ready
CAMP PENDLETON — As disciplinary hearings continued here for Marine Corps officers involved in the deadly sinking of an amphibious vehicle in 2020, a new type of troop carrier splashed into the chilly Pacific at the west end of the base as the service prepared for its first deployment.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle, or ACV, has been in development for years as a replacement for the Vietnam War-era Assault Amphibious Vehicle, commonly known as an AAV or “amtrack.” The service’s need for new amphibious transports was brought to the forefront in July 2020 when a 35-yearold amtrack sank off the coast of San Diego, killing eight Marines and a sailor.
The Marines of 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion, alongside troops from the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, took their ACVs into the sea last week for the first time since the service halted all waterborne amphibious operations in December. The Corps at that time pulled AAVs from waterborne operations permanently, barring any crisis or other need; they continue to serve on land. The new ACVs also were pulled from waterborne use after a problem with their tow ropes was
found. That has been corrected, the Marines said, and operations resumed a week ago.
Maj. Justin Davis, the operations officer for the battalion, called the ACV an “evolutionary improvement” over the AAV. ACVs will replace AAVs over the next decade, as the Corps plans to buy hundreds of the vehicles.
Unlike the AAVs, which had bench seats for troops, Davis said, the ACV is equipped with individual blast-attenuating seats to protect Marines from mines and improvised explosive devices.
The operation, completed Thursday, is the first time the vehicles have conducted waterborne operations as part of a named exercise,
said 1st Lt. Charlotte Dennis, a spokesperson for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU. The exercise — called “Iron Fist” — is held at Camp Pendleton every year with U.S. Marines and Japanese self-defense forces.
The Marines’ struggle with the previous generation of armored troop carriers comes as the service is two years into a decade-long plan to refocus its missions from land-based combat to ship-to-shore amphibious operations, amid the winding down of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and rising tensions with Russia and China.
The Marine Corps’ investigation into the 2020 sinking found that the infantry
Marines riding in the vehicles were not all fully swimqualified. Nor had they all been trained in deep-water escape procedures, due in part to the pressures of the pandemic and the deep-water trainer at Camp Pendleton being down for maintenance while the Marines were preparing for deployment.
The accident led the Corps to revamp its requirements for Marines who will ride in the vehicles, including swimming and underwater escape training, among others.
Elsewhere at Camp Pendleton, administrative boards continued for leaders identified as bearing some responsibility in the training and maintenance oversight that investigators say led to the AAV’s sinking.
A board of inquiry into the commander of the infantry company involved in the accident wrapped up Friday at the base. Capt. George Hepler, the commander of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, was removed from command in the months after the deaths. He’s accused of substandard performance and dereliction of duty and faces separation from the Marines and an other-thanhonorable discharge.