EXERCISE RESUMES
“Predators Run” – the train the marines had been collaborating in – was paused on Sunday, however an Australian defence official informed AFP that it had resumed on Monday morning.
There’ll, nonetheless, be no extra train actions going down on the Tiwi Islands, the small group of islands that features Melville, the scene of the crash.
Northern Australia has grow to be an vital staging floor for the US army lately, as Washington and Canberra work collectively to counter China’s rising clout within the Asia-Pacific area.
Australian defence minister Richard Marles informed public broadcaster ABC on Monday morning that the lack of life can be felt by US and Australian forces.
“These are very tight-knit communities,” he mentioned.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin praised the fallen marines, who he mentioned “served our nation with braveness and pleasure, and my ideas and prayers are with their households right this moment, with the opposite troops who have been injured within the crash, and with your complete (US Marine Corps) household”.
The Osprey plane has a troubled historical past, blighted by a string of deadly crashes over time.
4 US marines have been killed in Norway final 12 months when their V-22B Osprey plane went down throughout NATO coaching workout routines.
Three marines have been killed in 2017 when an Osprey crashed after clipping the again of a transport ship whereas attempting to land at sea off Australia’s north coast.
And 19 marines died in 2000 when their Osprey crashed throughout drills in Arizona.
