Grenade blast A 25th Division soldier died early this morning after he and three other soldiers were injured when a grenade exploded during a training exercise at Schofield Barracks last night.
kills 1, hurts 3
at Schofield
The incident late last night was
the third major military training
accident in Hawaii in 2 yearsBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe names of the dead soldier and the three injured, who were taken to Tripler Army Medical Center, were not released by the Army. The three are in stable condition.
The other soldier had been taken by helicopter to Queen's Medical Center, where he died early this morning, said Troy Griffin, 25th Division spokesman.
The four soldiers were involved in a usually routine platoon training exercise at one of Schofield Barrack's live-fire training ranges when the grenade exploded at 11:35 p.m., he said. During such training, soldiers stand in a pit and toss live grenades down range.
This was the third fatal Army training accident in the last two years.
Two years ago, one soldier was killed and four others were injured during an accident at the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area involving a bangalore torpedo they were using to blast a hole through a barbed wire obstacle. The April 12, 2000, accident was the Army's first training fatality since 1990, when a Hawaii Army National Guard soldier was accidentally shot by an M-60 machine gun at Pohakuloa. The Army ruled that the 2000 incident was accidental and no disciplinary action was taken.
On Feb. 12, 2001, six soldiers were killed and four injured when two Black Hawk helicopters collided at a Kahuku Training Area landing zone on the North Shore.
An investigation into the 25th Infantry Division's first Black Hawk helicopter concluded that there was no evidence of criminal negligence by the pilots. However, Major Gen. James Dubik, division commander, said Lt. Col. Paul Disney, former commander of the division's aviation battalion, failed to fully comply with standard procedures.