{"id":57889,"date":"2022-08-04T19:41:47","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T19:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/08\/04\/extreme-heat-led-to-marines-likely-avoidable-death-during-the-crucible\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:50:10","slug":"extreme-heat-led-to-marines-likely-avoidable-death-during-the-crucible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/08\/04\/extreme-heat-led-to-marines-likely-avoidable-death-during-the-crucible\/","title":{"rendered":"Extreme heat led to Marine\u2019s \u2018likely avoidable\u2019 death during \u2018the Crucible\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was 1 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, 2021, when Stacie Beals got the knock on her door from the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey couldn\u2019t tell me anything,\u201d she told Marine Corps Times in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her son, Marine Pfc. Dalton Beals, 19, had been at boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina, and had died June 4 during \u201cthe Crucible\u201d \u2015 the final, grueling, 54-hour pinnacle of Marine Corps boot camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t know anything\u201d she said. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t tell me anything. I just couldn\u2019t imagine what could have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Crucible, recruits complete a series of physical challenges, including miles of marching with rifles and 70-pound packs. It\u2019s where they are \u201cmade Marines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long after his death, the Marine Corps said it had found that Pfc. Dalton Beals had \u201cearned the title of Marine.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Stacie Beals did not know it at the time, her son\u2019s cause of death was hyperthermia \u2015 extreme body temperature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had been found dead in the woods, apparently looking for sprinklers to cool down with, Stars and Stripes first reported. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until December 2021 that Stacie Beals received an investigative report from the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, shared with Marine Corps Times and which includes extensive redactions, found that Pfc. Dalton Beals participated in the Crucible during both red and black flag conditions<\/a> \u2015 the highest end of a standard for how long individuals can safely train in the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red flag conditions, according to the Corps\u2019 standards, are from 88 degrees Fahrenheit to 89.9 degrees Fahrenheit under the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index, and limit exercise for \u201call personnel with less than 12 weeks training in hot weather.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTroops who are thoroughly acclimated may perform limited activity not to exceed six hours a day,\u201d according to Marine emergency preparedness standards listed online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPhysical training and strenuous exercise\u201d should be suspended for all personnel in black flag conditions, 90 degrees Fahrenheit and above, according to the Corps\u2019 online standards. <\/b><\/a>But the depot considers the Crucible an essential activity that can go on even in black flag conditions, according to<\/a> an order at the South Carolina base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation goes on to state that Pfc. Dalton Beals had separated from his group and was unaccounted for roughly for one hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young Marine\u2019s death was \u201clikely avoidable,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pfc. Dalton Beals. (Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although instances of heat illness are rare, and reportedly on the decline among some of the services, addressing safety during training remains a relevant issue, especially for military families who have lost someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom Dalton\u2019s report, his senior drill instructor was not being monitored the way he should be monitored,\u201d Stacie Beals said, noting she has been told that the individual and two others above that individual have been since reassigned to other roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation outlines how Pfc. Dalton Beals\u2019 unnamed drill instructor largely was at fault for intensifying training, and that even prior to the Crucible recruits were not comfortable bringing problems forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the report, legal or administrative action was recommended against the drill instructor and two commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maj. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesperson in Parris Island, South Carolina, shared in a statement, \u201cMCRD Parris Island Leadership is in contact with the family and provides information as it becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A request for legal services in the case of Pfc. Dalton Beals has been submitted by the Recruit Training Regiment and is under legal review by military prosecutors, Kulczewski told Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it would be inappropriate at this time to speculate about the details of the case with the ongoing review, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pfc. Dalton Beals is not the only Marine, or service member, to have died from extreme heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Army National Guard Sgt. Sylvester Cline<\/a>, 32, died from training during black flag conditions after being rushed to a hospital from a training range at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, NBC News previously reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon\u2019s most recent Health of the Force report, released earlier in 2022, found that heat illness was more common among younger service members and those in the Marines Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another report, released in April<\/a>, revealed that heat illnesses in the Army in 2020 had in fact decreased by 23% from 2019, with only 2.6 cases per 1,000 people reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, nine of the 43 Army installations tracked experienced 100 or more heat risk days in 2020, mostly in the southeast of the country, and a third of active-duty soldiers were stationed at one of these locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the first half of 2022 ranked the sixth hottest year on record, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent Parris Island, South Carolina, Crucible was scheduled to take place July 28, the Marine spokesperson said, noting the training event is conducted approximately 40 times per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since summer 2021, the Beals family has raised more than $40,000 in a memorial fund<\/a> and built a support network through a group called Save Our Servicemembers, which advocates for accountability in military leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\t