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The US Marine who was killed in a training accident died from injuries he sustained in a fast-rope exercise while deployed in Japan.
Lance Cpl. Devin J. Hernandez, 25, was participating in the training at Camp Schwab in Okinawa on Tuesday when he suffered the serious injuries, the 3rd Marine Division said Thursday.
Hernandez was taken for medical treatment but later died.
Marine Corps officials did not say what injuries Hernandez suffered, when they occurred or where he was treated.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation, the division said.
The Maryland native — a combat engineer attached to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina — was deployed to Japan with the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, as part of the Unit Deployment Program.
“The Marines and Sailors of 3rd Marine Division mourn the loss of one of our own,” said Maj. Gen. Kyle Ellison, the division’s commanding general.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Lance Cpl. Hernandez’s family, friends, and fellow Marines. Our focus remains on supporting them while we fully investigate the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
Hernandez’s decorations included the Navy Arctic Service Ribbon, the division said.
Marines are first introduced to rope descents in boot camp, rappelling from 40-plus-foot towers at Parris Island and San Diego as a confidence-building exercise.
Fast-roping — sliding down a rope without a harness, often from a hovering helicopter — is a more advanced skill taught later.
At Camp Schwab, Marines practice on a rappel tower before moving on to air operations.
Roughly 55,000 active-duty US troops are stationed in Japan at any given time, with the bulk on Okinawa — which remained under American control for nearly three decades after World War II, until 1972, according to the US military.
Okinawa, the largest island in the Ryukyu chain off Japan’s southern coast, is home to more than 18,000 Marines, sailors and their families, according to the Marine Corps.
