Special Marine unit leader: 2 crashes in 2 years coincidence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The deputy commander of an elite group of U.S. Marines says it is just coincidence that a battalion has suffered two fatal aircraft crashes in just over two years.
Six Marines and a Navy corpsman in a unit of the Raiders died in a crash Monday in Mississippi, on the way to a training exercise. In March 2015, seven members of the same North Carolina-based command were killed in a helicopter crash off Florida.
Marine Special Operations Command Deputy Commander Col. Stephen Grass said Friday that these crashes are just coincidences and won't deter the unit from its mission.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The current incarnation of the Marine Raiders was formed in 2006 with historic links to World War II commando units, amid the global war on terror.