Marines Take Command From 2 Flight Officers

The commanding officer and maintenance officer of an El Toro Marine Corps squadron that participated in the United States’ raid on Libya have been relieved of duty for reporting that FA-18 Hornet fighter planes were ready for combat duty when they were not, a base official said Friday.

Lt. Col. Robin L. Savio has been reassigned as executive officer of a headquarters unit, while the status of Maj. Alexander Aitken, who was aviation maintenance officer and third in command of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, the Black Knights, has not been determined, said Lt. Col. Jerry M. Shelton, base spokesman.

Shelton said the improper procedures, which were discovered during a routine inspection of records, involved reports that the jets were flight-ready when they were not.

The discrepancies covered the period when the squadron was aboard the aircraft carrier Coral Sea in the Mediterranean.

“At no time, however, were they operating unsafe aircraft,” Shelton said. Nor did the violations have anything to do with the fatal crash of one of the squadron’s planes during a routine training mission, he said.

“Unfortunately, at this stage we can’t say for sure whether they (the violations) were done intentionally,” Shelton said. “If they were, the reasons are many, such as better fitness reports. There is competition between squadrons, even individuals. But at this point we just can’t say why” they happened.

Savio’s unit, along with a second FA-18 squadron from El Toro, flew combat air patrols in support of Air Force planes that bombed the Libyan capital of Tripoli in April.