Local : Marine Who Left Unit Is Charged
The military has lodged charges against a Marine pilot who officials say abandoned his Middle East-bound squadron in Hawaii and returned to Camp Pendleton on a commercial airliner, authorities said today.
Lt. Tony H. Moradian, 26, of Los Angeles could face military discharge and imprisonment if convicted on charges of abandoning the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 of Camp Pendleton and missing the unit’s movement. Pending prosecution at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, he has been reassigned to an administrative unit at Pendleton, officials said.
Moradian is one of the first military personnel reported to have abandoned his unit since the start of Operation Desert Shield.
Capt. Betsy Sweatt of the Marine Corps Air Station, which oversees air units for the region, said Moradian left his squadron Dec. 9. “He came back on a commercial airliner, but as for why he did it, that we’re not going to guess,” she said.
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