A military tribunal found Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley, a Marine Corps drill instructor, not guilty of negligent homicide and other charges related to the tragic death of 19-year-old recruit Pfc. Dalton Beals, a New Jersey resident. The death occurred during a rigorous training exercise on Parris Island, South Carolina, in 2021.
The trial lasted several hours, and the jury ultimately cleared Smiley of charges including negligent homicide, cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of subordinates, and obstruction of justice, according to his lawyer, Colby C. Vokey.
However, the jury did find Smiley guilty of oviolating a general order prohibiting drill instructors from using derogatory language towards recruits. During the training, Smiley referred to recruits as “pigs,” “war pigs,” and “sweet bacon.”
The investigative report by the Marines revealed that Private Beals’ death resulted from hyperthermia, an abnormally high body temperature, during the rigorous Crucible, a 54-hour training exercise involving physically demanding tests with restricted sleep and food.
Beals was found unconscious on the second day of the Crucible, about 90 minutes after completing an event under extreme “black flag” conditions, with a heat index of 90 degrees or above. The report stated that after displaying signs of heat injury, Beals left his team’s patrol base alone and was unaccounted for for over an hour.
The report emphasized that Private Beals’ death was “likely avoidable” and pointed out that Sergeant Smiley failed to consider the extreme weather conditions throughout the training event. Instead, Smiley intensified the training despite the conditions.
According to the report, numerous recruits described Smiley as a demanding drill instructor. Recruits did not feel at ease approaching him with medical concerns or other issues, as he would reportedly dismiss them with indifference. This perceived lack of concern for recruits’ well-being may have influenced Beals’ decision not to seek medical attention when he exhibited clear signs of heat injury.