FILE PHOTO: Two U.S. Marines MV-22 Osprey Aircraft sit on the apron of Sydney International Airport in Australia, June 29, 2017. Picture taken June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo

(Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps on Friday ordered its aircraft squadrons to suspend flight operations for 24 hours sometime during the next two weeks to review procedures after two of its planes crashed, killing dozens.

General Robert Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, directed aviation units to time the suspensions in a way that would not disrupt “operational commitments,” the Marine Corps said in a statement on Friday. Commanders will determine the schedule for their units.

“Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready,” the statement said.

Last weekend, a Marine MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed off northeastern Australia, killing three Marines aged 19 to 26. Twenty-three others on the craft were rescued.

In July, a KC-130 Hercules transport plane crashed in Mississippi, killing 16 service members, including reservists from New York state and active-duty Marines based in North Carolina.

The Osprey is built by Boeing Co and Textron Inc’s Bell Helicopter. It is designed to lift off like a helicopter and then rotate its blades to fly like a plane.

The KC-130 Hercules is produced by Lockheed Martin Corp. It carries cargo, conducts in-air refueling, and can carry 92 ground troops or 64 paratroopers, according to the U.S. Navy website.

Last December, the U.S. grounded its MV-22 Osprey aircraft in Japan at the request of Tokyo following a crash southwest of Okinawa. The aircraft has been a lightning rod for opponents to the heavy U.S. military presence on Okinawa, which lies south of the main Japanese island group.</s>After two deadly air accidents in recent weeks, the Marine Corps on Friday ordered its aviation units to briefly ground their aircraft, review the safety of their operations, and study past failures to glean lessons from them.

Gen. Robert B. Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, directed the units to conduct an “operational reset,” a 24-hour period without flights, at some time within the next two weeks. Spreading the pauses over two weeks will limit the number of aircraft that will be grounded at any one time during a time of great tension in several parts of the world, notably the Korean Peninsula.

In a brief statement, the Marines said each unit’s commander would decide when to suspend flight operations, timing the move to minimize disruption to operations.

Units deployed from their home bases, including those close to war zones and potential trouble spots overseas, can ask for an extension of the two-week time frame, said Capt. Ryan E. Alvis, a Marine Corps spokeswoman.</s>Marine Corps aviation units have been ordered to ground all aircraft for 24 hours to focus on safety.

Gen. Robert Neller, Marine Corps commandant, said unit commanders could schedule the pause at their discretion within a two-week period. A statement said the halt to flight operations will not affect operational commitments.

The order comes after two recent crashes of Marine Corps aircraft.

Last weekend, a Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Australia. Three Marines died in the crash.

July 10, a Marine Corps C-130 crashed in Mississippi. All 16 aboard were killed: 15 Marines and a Navy corpsman.

As yet, investigators have not announced a cause for either crash.

The Marine Corps statement said aviation units will use the 24-hour suspension:



"...to focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization, and combat readiness. The intent is for flying squadrons to review selected incidents which occurred enterprise-wide and study historical examples of completed investigations in order to bring awareness and best practices to the fleet. Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review tbest practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready."</s>In the wake of two deadly aviation accidents, the Marine Corps has ordered a 24 hour "operational reset" that will ground all of its aircraft to reinforce safety and training procedures among Marine pilots, air crews and maintenance teams.

The pause ordered by General Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, will occur at the discretion of unit commanders over the next two weeks, so as to not impact air operations.

According to a Marine statement, the operational reset will "focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization, and combat readiness."

"The intent is for flying squadrons to review selected incidents which occurred enterprise-wide and study historical examples of completed investigations in order to bring awareness and best practices to the fleet," the statement continued.

The safety stand down was ordered after three Marines were killed last week when a MV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed off the coast of Australia. In July, 15 Marines and a sailor were killed in the crash of a Marine Reserve KC-130T in Mississippi.

The last time the Marine Corps conducted such a safety stand down was in August 2016, following a series of fatal F/A-18 crashes.</s>The commandant of the US Marine Corps announced a 24-hour operational pause for all of the branch’s aircraft Friday, a move that comes after the Marines suffered two deadly crashes in recent weeks.

“Gen. Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the US Marine Corps, directed US Marine Corps aviation units to conduct an operational reset for a 24 hour-period where no flight operations will take place but no operational commitments will be impacted,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

The pause will affect all Marine Corps aircraft, including those with tilt-rotors, helicopters and fixed-wing planes.

Each unit commander will have the flexibility to carry out the pause at his or her discretion within a two-week period, meaning not all aircraft will be grounded at the same time. This will allow Marines currently performing combat missions to continue operating and come up with a plan to ensure that operational commitments are not affected by the pause.

The operational reset is not related to any equipment issues, and the Marines plan to use the 24-hour period “to focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization, and combat readiness.” Flying squadrons will review selected incidents and study historical examples of completed investigations “in order to bring awareness and best practices to the fleet.”

The pause comes after two major Marine Corps aviation accidents. An MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed last week while operating off the coast of Australia, killing three of the 26 Marines on board. A KC-130T transport plane crashed in Mississippi in July, resulting in the death of 15 Marines and a Navy corpsman

“Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready,” the Marine Corps statement said.</s>The U.S. Marine Corps has ordered all its aircraft grounded for a 24 hour-period following two deadly recent crashes in which 19 service members were killed.

“General Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, directed U.S. Marine Corps aviation units to conduct an operational reset for a 24 hour-period where no flight operations will take place but no operational commitments will be impacted,” the USMC said in a statement Friday.

“This operational reset will occur within the next two weeks and will be taken at the discretion of commanders, based on their unit's operational commitments, to focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization, and combat readiness,” the statement continued.

The move affects about 800 total aircraft, and does not include those currently deployed, a U.S. Marine Corps spokesman confirmed to Fox News.

MARINE CORPS LIFTS GROUNDING OF MV-22 OSPREY AND OTHER AIRCRAFT IN DEPLOYED UNIT FOLLOWING CRASH

On Monday, the submerged wreckage of a U.S. military aircraft was found two days after it crashed off the east coast of Australia, killing three U.S. Marines. The MV-22 crashed while on final approach to USS Green Bay, a Navy amphibious ship off the east coast of Australia.

And in July, 15 Marines and one Navy Corpsman were killed when their U.S. military plane spiraled out of the sky and crashed in a Mississippi field.

News of the grounding comes after President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday morning, in response to threats from North Korea, “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!”

The USMC said that the 24 hour-period grounding is not unusual.

“Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready,” the USMC said in their statement.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>The US Marine Corps on Friday announced a 24-hour operational pause for all of its aircrafts after two major deadly crashes in recent weeks. “Gen. Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the US Marine Corps, directed US Marine Corps aviation units to conduct an operational reset for a 24 hour-period where no flight operations will take place but no operational commitments will be impacted,” Xinhua quoted a statement from Marine Corps as saying. “Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready,” the statement added.

The halt will affect all Marine Corps aircrafts, including those with tilt-rotors, helicopters and fixed-wing planes. However, each unit commander can carry out the pause at his or her discretion within a two-week period, meaning those currently performing combat missions can continue operating and come up with a plan to ensure these missions are not affected by the pause.

Last week an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed while operating off the coast of Australia, killing three of the 26 Marines on board. In July, a KC-130T transport plane crashed in the southern state of Mississippi, resulting in the death of 15 Marines and a Navy corpsman.</s>The commandant of the US Marine Corps announced a 24-hour operational pause for all of the branch’s aircraft Friday, a move that comes after the Marines suffered two deadly crashes in recent weeks.

“Gen. Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the US Marine Corps, directed US Marine Corps aviation units to conduct an operational reset for a 24 hour-period where no flight operations will take place but no operational commitments will be impacted,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

The pause will affect all Marine Corps aircraft, including those with tilt-rotors, helicopters and fixed-wing planes.

Each unit commander will have the flexibility to carry out the pause at his or her discretion within a two-week period, meaning not all aircraft will be grounded at the same time. This will allow Marines currently performing combat missions to continue operating and come up with a plan to ensure that operational commitments are not affected by the pause.

The operational reset is not related to any equipment issues, and the Marines plan to use the 24-hour period “to focus on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, standardization, and combat readiness.” Flying squadrons will review selected incidents and study historical examples of completed investigations “in order to bring awareness and best practices to the fleet.”

The pause comes after two major Marine Corps aviation accidents. An MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed last week while operating off the coast of Australia, killing three of the 26 Marines on board. A KC-130T transport plane crashed in Mississippi in July, resulting in the death of 15 Marines and a Navy corpsman

“Pauses in operations are not uncommon and are viewed as a responsible step to refresh and review best practices and procedures so our units remain capable, safe, and ready,” the Marine Corps statement said.

The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry, issued a statement shortly after the announcement which said that the pause underscored a need for increased defense spending.

“The Marine Corps’ decision to temporarily ground all aircraft is further, indisputable evidence that America’s military is in a readiness crisis, and that the crisis is costing lives,” Thornberry said.

“Congress must act as soon as possible to provide our military with all of the resources they need to repair what can be fixed and replace what cannot be repaired,” he added.

Thornberry’s committee has proposed a major defense spending increase, with a significantly higher topline number than what has been proposed by President Donald Trump’s budget.

The Defense Department has long said that budget constraints and the need to carry out ongoing operations has caused readiness and training to become less of a priority in past years.

“Because readiness is something you can defer to the future, we deferred a lot of training during that time period in order to make those numbers work,” Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month.

But Selva cautioned tying individual accidents like the KC-130T crash to a reduction in training, saying senators and others “should be careful” about drawing snap conclusions.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Marine Corps commandant has ordered all of the Marine aviation units to stop flight operations for a 24-hour period at some point in the next two weeks to focus on safety and combat readiness.

Gen. Robert Neller’s order comes days after three Marines were killed when their MV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the coast of Australia. The Osprey had launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard, and 23 of 26 personnel on the aircraft were rescued.

The flying squadrons will review flight incidents and other crash investigations to make Marines better aware of procedures and best practices. The goal is to make sure units are capable, safe and ready.

Units will determine the timing of the 24-hour stand-down so it will not affect any combat operations.</s>I'm Lance Corporal Troy Saunders with your Marine Minute.

 

 A Marine Week Detroit press conference was held at The Spirit of Detroit City Monument in Detroit, Michigan, Aug. 10th. Marine Week Detroit is scheduled to take place September 6th through 10th and is a part of the Corps’ largest community outreach program designed to connect the public to the Marine Corps.

 

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 A Marine was recognized for his heroism during a ceremony held at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejuene, North Carolina, August 8th. Sgt. Kevin Peach, an infantryman with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, was awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the most prestiegeous non-combat award, for his actions which saved a man from a burning car near Camp Pendleton, California.

 

 On this day in Marine Corps history in 1923,

 The west coast Marine Corps Recruiting Depot transferred from Mare Island, California, to its present location in San Diego, California.

 

 That's it for your Marine Minute, for more news around the Marine Corps go to Marines.mil.
Because of a recent pair of deadly crashes, the U.S. Marine Corps will ground its flight operations for 24 hours for an operational reset. The suspensions will be spread out over the next two weeks.