The Marine Corps has identified the Marine who was killed in a tactical vehicle rollover Tuesday.
Sgt. Matthew K. Bylski died after the amphibious combat vehicle flipped during training on land at Camp Pendleton, California, according to a news release Thursday from I Marine Expeditionary Force, the Corps’ West Coast-based force.
Fourteen other Marines were in the vehicle when it flipped and were taken to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment. Only one remains in the hospital, and that Marine is in good condition, according to the release.
A native of Royal Oak, Michigan, Bylski was trained as an amphibious combat vehicle crewman and was a vehicle commander with Battalion Landing Team 1/5, the ground combat element of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
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Bylski joined the Marine Corps in January 2019, according to the news release. His decorations include two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Col. Sean Dynan, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s commanding officer, said in the release, “Words fail to express our sorrow at the tragic loss of Sgt. Bylski; an outstanding Marine and a leader within his platoon.”
“The MEU — the Marines who lived, trained, and learned from Sgt. Bylski, mourn alongside his family and friends.”
Reached by phone Thursday, a person who identified himself as family member of Bylski told Marine Corps Times the family wasn’t ready to speak publicly.
The Marines were conducting a mechanized raid — an attack conducted with assault amphibian vehicles or light armored vehicles — as part of a training exercise involving the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, Marine spokesman 2nd Lt. Troy Garza told Marine Corps Times on Thursday. The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group is the naval element the Marine unit has been training with ahead of a monthslong deployment at sea.
Garza said the vehicle flipped while the Marines were driving toward Camp Horno, a site within the vast Marine installation Camp Pendleton, California.
The Marine Corps said it is investigating the incident.
Between 2010 and 2019, there were 3,753 noncombat tactical vehicle accidents in the Army and Marine Corps, killing a total of 123 service members, according to a 2021 Government Accountability Office report.
In 2022, amphibious combat vehicles rolled over in at least two separate incidents, but those rollovers occurred in the water rather than on land, and no injuries were reported.
The Corps said inadequate training caused these mishaps and is requiring vehicle operators to get recertified before they can take the vehicles into the surf zone. Even recertified vehicle operators aren’t yet allowed to enter the surf zone with other Marines embarked in the back, Capt. Ryan Bruce told Marine Corps Times on Dec. 5.
The amphibious combat vehicle replaced a platform that has experienced its own safety issues: the tracked amphibious assault vehicle. In 2020, an amphibious assault vehicle also from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit sank during training, killing nine service members.
The Marine Corps in 2021 permanently halted deployments of that older vehicle.
Like its predecessor, the amphibious combat vehicle can transport troops from ship to shore and then move around on land. But the newer vehicle is heavier and has wheels rather than tracks.
Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
