A North Carolina Marine was killed during an artillery training exercise at Ft. Bragg, Marine officials said Saturday.
Lance Cpl. Steven Szymanski, 24, of Midland, Michigan, died Oct. 21 in a "vehicular mishap," said 2nd Marine Division spokesman 1st Lt. Adam Flores in a news release.
Szymanski was a light armored vehicle crewman attached to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune. He joined the Marine Corps in Sept. 2013, officials said.
Flores said he didn't immediately have more details on the cause of Szymanski's death, but officials are investigating the tragedy.
Szymanski was at the Army base as part of Rolling Thunder, an annual artillery training exercise that permits Camp Lejeune troops to train on 155-millimeter howitzers, which are too large to use aboard Lejeune.
The exercise began Oct. 14 and runs until Oct. 31, Flores said. He said a safety stand-down was conducted in the wake of the vehicle mishap, but did not know if any training was halted as a result.
According to an obituary published on ObitMichigan.com, Symanski had enlisted in the Marines after earning an Associate's degrees in criminal justice.
"He enjoyed weight lifting, handing out with friends (who called him Shiz), listening to music, hiking, fishing, hunting and golfing," the obituary reads. "He was always smiling and trying to make people laugh and ready to listen and help out when he could. he was loved by many and will forever be in our hearts."
Szymanski's death is the second serious training incident during Rolling Thunder in recent years.
In March 2011, seven Marines attached to Lejeune's 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines and a Navy corpsman were injured, two seriously, after a round exploded in the barrel of one of the 155mm cannons. A Marine attached to the unit said faulty ammunition was to blame for that incident.
