It was dangerous terrain and high grasses on a seaside range at Camp Pendleton — not human error — that caused a vehicle rollover resulting in the death of 1st. Lt. Conor McDowell, platoon leader with the 1st Light Armored Battalion, according to a report released to his family.
McDowell died May 9 during a training exercise on a range on the north end of the base. He and six Marines under his command were riding in a light armored vehicle, with McDowell positioned high in the turret with a gunner to his right. According to reports, the vehicle was traveling slowly along rough terrain, into a heavy marine layer that made it difficult to see, when it flipped into a deep ravine landing on its top and pinning McDowell.
The six other Marines suffered moderate injuries.
In the “Line of Duty” incident report the McDowell family received, the 1st Marine Division exonerated McDowell, 24, from any fault in the accident. The report examined whether misconduct, negligence, or vehicle maintenance factored into the cause of the rollover.
“As a mom, I held my son to a high standard throughout his life,” said Susan Flanigan. “He held himself to that same high standard in training as a Marine. The report exonerates his role in the accident and affirms to me that to the end of his life, he behaved with the same high standard he lived with his entire life. He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
Just days after the accident, McDowell’s father, Michael McDowell, spoke with some of the Marines under his son’s command. He learned that his son sent the gunner down into the vehicle to see if there was better visibility. But as the gunner returned with information, McDowell yelled, “rollover, rollover,” and pushed him back into the vehicle, saving his life.
The report found that McDowell was “properly trained and satisfied all requirements of a platoon commander in a Light Armored Reconnaissance Company,” his father said.
It confirmed what Michael McDowell had suspected after visiting Camp Pendleton and seeing the heavy blanket of high grasses growing over ravines and drop-offs near training areas on the base’s north end.
“There is no question that the location of the incident was a dangerous area for vehicles due to the steep drop-off into the ditch combined with tall vegetation,” the report stated, according to Michael McDowell.
McDowell said he had very little concern his son would be found at fault after he met with his fellow Marines.
“There was not an inkling to suggest Conor being involved,” he said. “What would have been shocking is if he was found at fault.
“They didn’t know about the ravine the vehicle was steering towards,” McDowell added. “Satellite imagery wouldn’t show during the day or nighttime that there was a hole. You need something more like cameras and sensors in the vehicles or maybe drones to view the terrain.”
McDowell said the report recommended follow-up action including using satellite imagery for planning and training. It also suggested that the investigation into the accident would be used to educate Marines and reinforce techniques and procedures.
Rise in training fatalities
Since Conor McDowell’s death his parents and fiancee, Kathleen Isabel Bourque, have vigilantly pursued lawmakers to see what can be done to stop the spate of training fatalities and accidents. They’ve taken up the cause for themselves and five other families who have lost service members in training accidents this year.
A report released in May by Congressional Research Services shows that of the 16,652 active-duty deaths in the armed forces from 2006 to 2018, 31.9% were training accidents, compared to 16.3% in combat. The remaining active-duty deaths were related to homicide, suicide, illness and other causes.
So far this year, more than a dozen service members have died in training accidents.
“We are fighting to stop more needless, preventable military deaths of our young men and women, and we are just beginning to fight and will keep at it with doggedness and energy,” Michael McDowell said. “We will not rest till we have reduced drastically these heartbreaking deaths.”
The Government Accountability Office notified the Pentagon on Wednesday, Oct. 23, that it will officially begin to study fatal training accidents by examining factors including how training areas can be inspected and improved; the reliability and maintenance of military vehicles; how vehicle drivers are trained; and whether driving simulators are used, McDowell said.
The study will be conducted jointly with the House Armed Services Committee and the House Oversight Committee. The report is prompted by the high number of training deaths and will look at Marine Corps and Army safety standards.
The GAO, which provides investigative services for the United States Congress, also will study how rollovers can be avoided, he said, and whether vehicles should be equipped with safety cages and seat belts. It also will review how accident report data is collected and how accidents that are non-fatal are categorized.
“We are finding more incidents of accidents that are not reported with significant damage to personnel and vehicles,” Flanigan said. “How is this reported between units and services? When an accident occurs, how can it be modified in a training simulator?”
Team members are expected to tour bases, meet with units and study training centers and ranges, McDowell. said.
There have been eight rollovers reported in the last five years at Camp Pendleton, but the trend is by no means isolated to that base.
Elsewhere, Lance Cpl. Hans Sandoval-Pereyra, 21, of Fairfax, Va., was killed May 28 when the Humvee he was riding in went off the road in the Northern Territory of Australia. A second Marine was treated for minor injuries in the crash.
The Army, too, has seen its share of incidents, reporting 14 fatalities involving vehicles — eight from rollovers — in fiscal year 2018-2019. Between 2015 and 2018, there were a total of 14 rollover fatalities, said Jason Waggoner, an Army spokesman.
Most recently, on Oct. 20, three Army soldiers were killed when the Bradley Fighting vehicle they were riding in rolled into the water during a training accident at Ft. Stewart in Georgia. The soldiers were with the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team. Two injured soldiers were evacuated and taken to an Army hospital where they were treated and released, and a third soldier was taken to a separate hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
On the same day, 21-year-old Pfc. Christian Bautista, 21, of Cook County, Ill., died while doing logistics training in a Humvee at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport. Bautista was a motor vehicle operator serving as a vehicle turret gunner.
Turning grief into action
The McDowells and Bourque have spent many hours researching data and speaking with lawmakers, first with U.S. Senators Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. Conor McDowell, of Washington, D.C., was one of their constituents.
On June 11, Cardin and Van Hollen co-wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer voicing their concerns about the number of recent training accidents in the armed forces.
On June 26, Cardin introduced an amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, an approval of defense spending by the Senate, which would require the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress the number of fatalities that occur during training. The amendment pushed for an analysis of recent training deaths and whether there are trends emerging, specifically regarding vehicle rollovers. It also asked for recommendations on preventing training deaths and injuries.
The McDowells and Bourque recently met with Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee within the House Armed Services Committee, who signed the GAO inquiry. They also collected a signature for the inquiry from the late Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings.
“They like our analysis,” Micheal McDowell said. “They found it very compelling and agreed to start immediately.”
Though the report is expected to take a year to complete, the McDowells and Bourque don’t plan to wait idly.
“We will keep an eye on this and ask the Pentagon every quarter, ‘What have you done to improve this?” McDowell said. “If the Pentagon has not moved quickly enough, you’re looking at legislation.”
For Bourque, who had expected to marry Conor McDowell Sept. 14, digging through data and speaking with lawmakers has helped with the healing process.
“Months ago, I said I will always fight for Conor and us,” she said. “That purpose has been greatly extended to not just our family but to all the other families. It’s so much more than anything I anticipated. I feel we’ve been very successful and have had fruitful, powerful discussions to share raw emotion with congressmen and staffers.
“It’s changed my worldview completely,” Bourque said. “It’s been really powerful and through it all, Conor has shown me how to extend my heart.”
