Congress shares some of the blame for a rash of recent military training accidents that resulted in the deaths of two and more than 20 injured in the last week, according to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
"Part of the underlying cause of the training and maintenance problems that plague our military is Washington's dysfunctional budget process," Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said in a statement, according to The Washington Examiner. "We cannot allow that to continue."
Army Staff Sgts. Alexander P. Dalida, 32, and Sean Devoy, 28, were killed this month in unrelated training accidents — Dalida during demolition training at Fort Bragg with Army Special Forces, and Devoy while training for helicopter medevac at Fort Hood. In addition, over a dozen Marines and one sailor were injured after the amphibious assault vehicle they were in caught fire at Camp Pendleton.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made a similar accusation on Thursday.
"In the past few months, we have seen far too many reports of death and injury to service members due to accidents during training," he said in a written statement. "Four times as many service members died during routine training in the last three years than in combat."
McCain added, "These incidents demonstrate the current over-taxed state of our military both at home and overseas, and the failure of Congress and the president to give our troops the training, resources, and equipment they need."
The two chairmen have called for a drastic increase in defense spending next year.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.