One U.S. Army soldier died and 23 service members were injured during three separate military training accidents that took place over the course of three days.
Staff Sgt. Sean Devoy died Tuesday after he fell during helicopter training at Fort Hood in Texas, Stars & Stripes reports. On Wednesday, a sudden fire at Camp Pendleton in California left 15 Marines injured, and on Thursday, eight service members were injured in an explosion at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Devoy, a medic, previously completed three combat deployments to Afghanistan. He was taking part in medical evacuation hoist training with an HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter during the accident.
On Wednesday, the 15 Marines were injured when an amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) ignited during a combat readiness evaluation at Camp Pendleton. Six Marines are in critical condition, six are in serious condition, and the remaining three had minor injuries. As of Thursday, they all remained in Southern California hospitals.
Thursday's incident at Fort Bragg involved an Army Special Operations Command unit. The Army would not elaborate further on the injuries of the service members who had a variety of injuries, and were transported to Fort Bragg's Womack Army Medical Center.
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain (R., Ariz.) spoke Wednesday, and said the number of deaths from training exercises during the last three years was four times higher than those killed in combat operations.
"It is the accumulation of years of uncertain, untimely, and inadequate defense funding, which has shrunk our operational forces, harmed their readiness, stunted their modernization, and as every single member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has repeatedly testified before the Committee on Armed Services, put the lives of our service members at greater risk," McCain said.
All of the incidents are currently under investigation.