[pfflier]

The only lack of leadership was that an NCO on scene didn't tell them all to leave their gear and get out of a sinking craft.

Exactly right. The ranking marine on the track did not take the necessary action to save his men.

The gleeful tones of the two rat congresscritters commenting on this, says it all about how this cost the general his career.

[pierrem15]

Neither the NCO nor the men were trained properly on safety procedures that required them to exit the vehicle when the water was ankle deep. They waited until it was knee deep and then a wave went over the top and that was it.

The vehicle was known not to be seaworthy when handed over to the next unit to be trained.

This wasn't an "accident:" the incident was inevitable given the lax safety training and poor maintenance. There were repeated cases of dereliction of duty regarding maintenance and training running from the general on down.