Capt. Thomas Heitmann, 27, of Mendota, Ill., was killed in a training accident in 2011, leaving his family wracked with grief and unsure what to do about his dream of funding a track at his alma mater. The local community wouldn't let that dream die.

Two thousand, three hundred Marines are back on Okinawa after more than a month at sea accompanying the USS Wasp amphibious warship and F-35B stealth fighters on their first patrol of the Western Pacific.

Cpl. Calvin S. Barker, 22, has been charged with unauthorized absence from Camp Pendleton, Calif., and two counts of groping an unidentified sleeping woman stemming from a Dec. 3 incident.

Johnny and James McClain were honored with 30 others at a recent ceremony at Camp Lejeune where They were presented with red suit jackets, T-shirts, plaques and soon-to-be-delivered rings, as the Marine Corps inducted them into its Boxing Hall of Fame.

Marine major who teaches "hacking class" at North Dakota State University as an unpaid volunteer says he's excited to bring some of the skills honed in the military to an academic setting

Lance Cpl. Fernando Rayon Jr. was arraigned on Jan. 26 on eight specifications for sex crimes including allegedly raping and groping an unconscious and unidentified female Marine on July 1, 2016, at Camp Pendleton.

Cpl. Douglas Pender, a mechanic at 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, has been charged with shoving his wife into a wall, biting her wrist, punching her and kicking her face during a July 23 incident at Camp Pendleton,.

State-of-the-art parts fabrication is keeping America’s most advanced stealth fighter in the air during its first deployment aboard the USS Wasp.

The Marines’ annual six-month deployment to the Northern Territory includes nearly 1,600 Marines, eight MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and an artillery battery of six M777 Howitzers.

It’s been a long road since August 2007, when an Iraqi bomb blew apart his right leg, leading to amputation below the knee. But, for the past four months, Christopher Lawrence has been working the beat as a Chula Vista, Calif., police officer.

Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marines, told a Senate panel on Thursday that the Corps has enacted a series of reforms to reign in the culture of harassment that has included sexual misconduct and long plagued the service.

No damage or injuries were reported after a U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing Wednesday at an airport on the island of Kyushu, Marine Corps and Japanese officials said.

Michael Joseph Chesny was separated from the U.S. Marine Corps on April 5 over his association with white nationalist organizations, and has been accused of playing a role in organizing the notorious Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Development costs for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle are now an estimated $60 million below original projections of $810.5 million, a Government Accountability Office report found, though it warned of continued potential for cost overruns or delays.

A Marine brigadier general who served as the director of an office that in part handles sexual assault prevention and response was removed from his position after making eyebrow-raising comments about sexual harassment claims at his command.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Derik Holley was one of four “Warhorse” crewmen from the Miramar-based Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 who died on April 3 when their CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter crashed near the Mexican border.

R. Lee Ermey, the Vietnam veteran famous for playing a hard-bitten Marine Corps drill instructor in the Academy Award-nominated film “Full Metal Jacket,” has died at age 74.

Pat Gjerde wasn’t old enough to buy a beer by the time he became a disabled veteran. But more than 20 years after his first deployment, he re-enlisted and went to Afghanistan to fight again for his country.

The Citadel has chosen the assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps as its next president.

The Marine Corps will present a flag Saturday to the family of a Navy landing craft commander who ferried troops to Tarawa and dedicated his final years to repatriating the remains of fallen comrades.

A new task force is devoted to improving the most important yet long overlooked portion of the American military — the infantry.

For the first time, America’s most advanced stealth fighter will perform aerial maneuvers at an air show in Asia during next month’s Friendship Day at MCAS Iwakuni.

The Marine Corps on Tuesday suspended a general who publicly ridiculed as “fake news” allegations of sexual harassment at his command and also joked about a chaplain recently fired for having sex in public, USA TODAY has learned.

The jets, based in Yuma, Ariz., were flying back from the naval air station at Whidbey Island on March 30 when one of the pilots requested to make an emergency landing due to a problem with the aircraft.

The convention hall housing the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Exposition at the National Harbor in Maryland was packed with military technological wonders large and small.

Capt. Samuel A. Schultz was a six-year veteran of the Marines and the third generation of the Schultz family to become a pilot. He was one of four Marines killed when their military helicopter crashed on Tuesday, April 3, during a training exercise near El Centro, in Southern California.

As a way of saying thank you to those who serve, Girl Scout Troop 91, based out of North Myrtle Beach, has completed — and exceeded — its goal of sending 600 boxes of cookies to the men and women aboard the USS New York.

"The hardest part of being a Marine is the tragic loss of life of a fellow brother-in-arms,” said Col. Craig Leflore, the commander of Marine Aircraft Group 16, which oversees the fallen Marines’ unit.

In April, the Pentagon recognizes Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. This year’s theme is "Protecting Our People Protects Our Mission,” which highlights ongoing efforts by the Department of Defense to change the culture of the armed forces to eliminate sexual assault in the ranks.

Rumors have swirled among Marines that the 4th Marine Regiment is doomed to wander the Pacific — much like the mythical ghost ship The Flying Dutchman — due to the dishonor over surrendering. It is the largest organized Marine unit to ever do so in battle.

The helicopter had departed the Strategic Expeditionary Landing Field at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., to conduct squadron training for landings in unimproved zones.

All U.S. military flights in Djibouti have been grounded and a major military exercise canceled after two recent accidents in the east African country, the U.S. military said Thursday.

A Navy chaplain was fired last month from his post at a Marine Corps command after he was caught on video having sex with a woman at a pub in New Orleans, according to two Defense officials.

Former Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island battalion commander Kate Germano's new book, "Fight Like A Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained," is a memoir and cutting commentary on gender inequality in the Corps, and its relevance to greater American society.

A CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter crashed Tuesday at about 2:35 p.m. local time, outside the border town of El Centro, Calif., with the crewmembers aboard, according to a statement by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The crew was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, just north of San Diego.

The pilot, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 and embarked aboard the USS Iwo Jima, was in stable condition while being evaluated at Camp Lemonnier’s expeditionary medical facility, according to a U.S. Navy news release.

The family of a young Marine Corps recruit from Winthrop whose body was found last week more than four months after he went missing will say their goodbyes to Joseph “Joey” Brancato with an understated service Tuesday evening.

If you want to tour a Navy ship during Fort Lauderdale's Fleet Week, your chance to sign up comes Wednesday, and registration in previous years has booked up quickly.

The dead body found near the side of the highway in Canton on Wednesday has been identified as a Marine recruit who has been missing since November.

Three flatbed trucks entered Camp Pendleton Thursday carrying a monument to Marines and sailors from the "Fighting Fifth" regiment who died in Vietnam, left a Vermont-based foundry on March 22 to make the eight-day, cross-country journey accompanied by dozens of Patriot Guard riders.

A Marine Corps honor guard rendered a 21 gun salute in honor of Ralph Boehner, who until his death March 19, was the oldest living Marine in Colorado.

The $11.5 million Intrepid Spirit center will operate as a part of Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton to treat active-duty military patients who suffer from the physical and psychological effects of brain injury.

On Saturday, Pvt. Patrick Armando Vega was found unresponsive in his bed around midnight by a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

“CCU 2.0” is a penal institution and program that provides intensive training — such as combat fitness, educational coursework, formal uniform inspections, values-based relapse prevention and hard labor — to give commanders an alternative to discharging undeveloped or immature servicemembers who get in trouble.

VIDEO

More than 4,000 servicemembers are embarked with the USS Wasp and its strike group during its first patrol since arriving at its new homeport at Sasebo Naval Base earlier this year.

Frank Walter Lipka, 39, is being investigated by Boston police for the disappearance of his roommate, Joseph Brancato, 21. Brancato, a Marine recruit, reportedly was last seen in November.

In April 2017, the police officers were notified by the Department of Defense’s Finance and Accounting Services that an error had been discovered. Friday’s debt letters, which also went to former employees, some now retired and who were never formally notified of the error a year ago, detailed the amounts owed.

Since 2012, the Marines’ annual rotation of forces to Australia’s Northern Territory has increased in size and complexity, enhancing the capability of Australian and U.S. forces to work together.

Marine Private First Class Raymond W. Begay appeared before a preliminary hearing officer Thursday, March 22, who will recommend the level of court martial he may face in the stabbing death of Pfc. Ethan Andrew Barclay-Weberpal at the base’s School of Infantry.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office identified on Wednesday the 21-year-old Kaneohe man who died after crashing his motorcycle on the H-3 Freeway over the weekend as Lance Cpl. Austin Cahill.

Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller has ordered a new investigation into allegations of sexual harassment brought by two civilian employees against a Marine officer, according to a Marines statement.

The 50-ton monument — traveling in sections on three flatbed trucks, each driven by a veteran — will be accompanied by dozens of volunteer Patriot Guard riders.

Matthew Hartley Benton, a former Marine staff sergeant, was charged with receipt of child pornography after a search warrant was executed at his residence by Homeland Security agents on March 31, 2017. He was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River at the time of his arrest.

VIDEO

The English bulldog mascots have been a fixture at the Marines' oldest active post since July 5, 1957, when the first Chesty — named in honor of the legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller Jr. — made his first public appearance.

Lance Cpl. Nicholas James-McLean was charged with negligent driving causing death and driving under the influence of alcohol after a Nov. 19 head-on collision took the life of a 61-year-old Japanese man.

The tiny Eastern North Carolina community of Atlantic has joined a growing list of military areas across the country affected by contaminated drinking water.

Members of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 and their F/A-18D Hornets landed at Iwakuni Thursday to replace a sister squadron, VMFA-251, which has returned to South Carolina.

Kevin Coset, 27, faces up to 51 years to life in prison for the brutal murder of Army reservist Alvin Bulaoro in 2012.

A Marine Corps military policeman working as a part-time deputy in the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming he was routinely passed over for promotions because of his service commitments.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is participating in two exercises that began last week — Juniper Cobra in Israel and Spring Storm in Romania. Both exercises are intended to sharpen tactical skills by training with foreign allies.

Gunnery Sgt. Scott D. Faulkner's court-martial case shines the spotlight on a Marine Corps trying to balance a distinguished military career forged during long years of war with the crimes he committed after coming home.

As part of a pre-trial agreement, Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon opted to retire early from the Marine Corps in addition to pleading guilty to the aforementioned criminal charges. His rank could be downgraded at the time of his retirement.

Pentagon officials have launched a new investigation into allegations files containing hundreds of lewd photographs of servicewomen have been recently shared on the internet, just about one year after a nude photo-sharing scandal rocked the Marine Corps and the Defense Department.

The Marine Corps has bid farewell to a woman who was the face of the service’s recruiting efforts during World War II.

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon — the highest-ranking Marine implicated in the recruit hazing scandal at Parris Island — faces court-martial for failing to sideline another Marine from interacting with recruits after allegations of abuse.

The man behind the wheel was Chad Horsley, who reportedly served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The store is owned by an Indian immigrant who is Sikh.

Last month, the Pentagon released a 2019 budget plan seeking a 10 percent hike in funding to $686.1 billion to increase the size and might of the military. The proposed 2019 budget will let the Navy and Marines reach their desired number of aircraft by 2022.

VIDEO

The recent graduates of Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will be the first enlisted female students to learn basic battlefield skills at Camp Pendleton’s School of Infantry.

The most likely recipients are local nationals but servicemembers at Iwakuni could also get some of the blood if they’re injured and treated at a local hospital, said an American Red Cross regional program manager.

video

A detachment with the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni-based Fighter Attack Squadron 121 landed aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, an event the Navy touted as a new era of “up-gunned” air-sea capability.

The slur — a derogatory term for African-Americans — was made from existing letters on the marquee advertising the Marvel film “Black Panther,” which features a predominantly black cast.

A group of educators from the Twin Cities and surrounding states stepped off a bus at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego and tried to keep up as a drill instructor barked orders.

A 25-year-old Marine corporal found dead on the floor of his barracks at Camp Pendleton last year – headphones still on from playing on the computer – died of a fentanyl overdose, and federal prosecutors are now seeking to hold responsible the man they say sold him the drugs.

Damien Rodriguez was charged with a hate crime and assault that could have put him in prison for a mandatory five years and 10 months under Oregon’s Measure 11 sentencing law. His attorney presented evidence that he is suffering from PTSD from witnessing fellow soldiers die while in combat in Iraq.

Tokyo District Court judges gave three Marines suspended sentences after one Marine stole credit card information from another servicemember on Okinawa and sent it to two others, who created a fake credit card and went shopping.

A commissioned officer at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is accused of terrorizing his wife, bedding mistresses across three states and then trying to cover it all up by blackmail and threats.

The sensitive information of thousands of Marine reservists and others was sent in an unencrypted email to the wrong distribution list, potentially putting many at risk of identity theft, officials said Thursday.

Nine Marines are part of the first group of the BMW Military Service Technician Education Program, held in a newly christened auto workshop at Camp Pendleton. It marks the first time a premium automotive brand has opened a training program for military service members on a base.

gallery

Marines with the Marine Rotational Force Europe are putting the Corps motto “in every clime and place” to the test as they continue with Arctic exercises amid below-zero temperatures in northern Scandinavia.

A self-described amateur historian is attempting to raise awareness of and have a statue erected honoring a U.S. Marine who died fighting alongside Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie.

Sometimes the way a person walks is enough to inspire another person to follow in the same footsteps. That was the case for World War II veteran Edward B. "Andy" Enterline.

A military court has reprimanded a Marine two-star general at Camp Pendleton, Calif., for unlawfully meddling in a court-martial case against a noncommissioned officer accused of abusing troops.

A helicopter overflew Futenma Daini Elementary School, which sits along Marine Corps Air Station Futenma’s northern fence line, at about 3:30 p.m. Friday, according to a USFJ statement released over the weekend.

Marine Sgt. Juan Iturbide died from a stab wound to his chest Monday night. His wife has been in custody since her arrest shortly after the incident.

Scientist Ernest J. Harris, an internationally acclaimed pioneer in the eradication of crop-destroying fruit flies, who received the Congressional Gold Medal and many other honors during a long, scientifically and societally engaged life, died on Tuesday.

An unidentified Marine held in connection with a fatal stabbing of a fellow Marine at the School of Infantry will face charges of murder and obstruction of justice at an Article 32 hearing scheduled for March 5 at the base.

A Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island trainee was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital after being found “unresponsive” at the depot on Feb. 4, according to a Marine news release.

Evelin Iturbide appeared in court Wednesday after she was charged a day earlier with second-degree murder in the death of Sgt. Juan Iturbide, 24. He was stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii and served as a food service specialist.

The day Ronnie Westberry arrived in Vietnam, his unit had just been attacked, and he helped load wounded and dead Marines in helicopters. "We did that for hours, chopper after chopper after chopper, realizing that could be me," he said. "I knew what fear was. I was scared."

American troops slurped cobra blood and noshed on rats while learning how to survive in harsh environments during annual drills underway in Thailand.

Honolulu police arrested a 23-year-old woman early Monday morning in the Red Hill area after she allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old Marine who was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.

Sitting in an armchair in the home he once shared with his family, Raymond Harris still becomes emotional as he thinks about his daughter’s death and the community that has continued to support him.

Thomas Begay, 92, is believed to be the last surviving member of the 5th Marine Division’s famed bilingual radio unit on Iwo Jima.

Several Camp Pendleton-based Marines have been found guilty in recent weeks of crimes including rape and child pornography, with other similar cases still pending in the military criminal justice system, records show.

video

Eight hundred quadcopter drones will soon hover over Marine Corps infantry squads, giving them new high-tech tools to survey the battlefield.