2 Marine Officers Relived of Duties Over Plane Data

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

The former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robin L. Savio, has been reassigned to duties 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 yet been determined, base spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry M. Shelton said.

Shelton said the improper procedured, which were discovered during a routine insection 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.