Joint Terminal Attack Controllers and Infantry Marines train during Exercise Garnet Rattler at Idaho's premier Orchard Combat Training Center and Saylor Creek range April 11-29, 2022. ( U.S. National Guard photo by Sgt. Becky Vanshur)
An Air Force ROTC cadet was killed and two others injured in a Humvee crash at a base in Idaho last week, marking a milestone in the The latest vehicle fatalities come as lawmakers review hazardous training exercises in the service.
An Air Force statement released Sunday said AFROTC Cadet Mackenzie Wilson, 19, of Oregon State University died from her injuries. She is from Eagle River, Alaska.
"Today we lost an Air Force family member. Our deepest sympathies go out to all of the individual's family and friends," said Col. Ernesto DiVittorio, 366th Fighter Wing commander. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them."
The accident occurred around noon on June 24, 2022, in the Saylor Creek Range, part of the Mountain Home Range Complex in southwestern Idaho. According to an Air Force release, 19 cadets were at the base to participate in Air Force Operations, a professional development and training event.
Specific details about what happened have not been released, but two other cadets were in the car with Wilson.
Other cadets rushed to the scene and attempted to assist her until first responders arrived. She was pronounced dead shortly after authorities arrived at the Hummer. Two other cadets in the Humvee were taken to nearby St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise for injuries and were later released.
The Idaho State Police and The Air Force Office of Special Investigations are reviewing the incident.
The accident in Idaho marks the military's latest vehicle training fatality and comes on the heels of an extensive GAO report pointing to service failures that led to the deaths.
A 103-page report released last July 14 by the Government Accountability Office, Congress's independent investigative agency, showed that inconsistent training and overconfidence led to deaths, as well as a lack of safety personnel capable of identifying hazards during the exercises.
reports that from 2010 to 2019, the services reported 3,753 non-combat incidents, resulting in the deaths of 123 service members. Rollovers are the most fatal accidents, accounting for 63% of fatalities.
The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Army and Marine Corps to develop plans to prevent tactical vehicle accidents.
But a series of recent accidents have once again put vehicle safety in the spotlight.
In January, two Marines were killed and 17 others injured after their tactical vehicle rolled over in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
In April, two fatal incidents occurred in the Army, resulting in two deaths and five injuries.
April 25, Pfc. Joseph Marquez, who was driving an M1083 MTV truck in Washington state , died when a small convoy went down a hill and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll several times, according to an early Army report. Two other soldiers were injured. That rollover occurred at 5:40 a.m., and it's unclear whether sleep deprivation, another key factor in military vehicle accidents, played a role, according to GAO.
Spc. Luis Herrera died after being ejected from a Humvee during a training event at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on April 28, according to a preliminary Army incident report. Three other soldiers were also ejected from the vehicle. Herrera is an infantryman assigned to Assault Company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
A total of nine soldiers died in ground vehicle accidents last year, according to an Army report. These numbers are down slightly from recent years, but that could be due to lighter training sessions during the pandemic.
Both the proposed House and Senate versions of the 2023 NDAA include a pilot program on military tactical vehicle safety that would use data recorders, or " black boxes ," to record what happens before, during and after a crash.
