MARINES WHO SHOT TEEN LACKED ADEQUATE TRAINING, REPORT SAYS

EL PASO - A military report that cleared the Marines involved in the fatal
shooting of a West Texas teenager of any crime also said that they were not
adequately trained for an anti-drug operation that placed them among
civilians.

The internal report also said commanders did not do enough to prevent
escalation of the Marines' encounter last year with Esequiel Hernandez Jr.

The mission "appears to have been viewed at every level of Marine Corps
command as more of a training opportunity than a real world deployment. The
failure to appreciate the difference had tragic consequences," wrote
retired Marine Maj. Gen. John T. Coyne, who investigated the shooting.

Parts of the report had been released earlier this summer.

The report specifically said brief training on the appropriate use of force
did not balance combat responses drilled into Marines.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Campbell said Wednesday that officials
stand by their original statements regarding the report.

The Marine Corps has previously rebutted the report in a written response
denying the contention that military officials failed to recognize the
operation as a real mission.

The rebuttal argues that Gen. Coyne arbitrarily concluded the training was
inadequate.

It notes several investigations, including those conducted by state and
federal grand juries, which concluded the Marines followed established
rules of engagement and civil rules regarding the use of force.

Mr. Hernandez, 18, was killed May 20, 1997, after crossing paths with a
four-man Marine team conducting anti-drug surveillance in Redford, 200
miles southeast of El Paso, at the request of the Border Patrol.

Mr. Hernandez, who was herding goats near the Rio Grande, fired at the
Marines twice and had raised his .22-caliber rifle a third time when team
leader Cpl. Clemente Banuelos shot him once with an M-16, according to the
military.

Gen. Coyne agreed that Cpl. Banuelos was acting according to his training
and had committed no crime. The report did question some of Cpl. Banuelos'
actions, including his decision to follow Mr. Hernandez after the initial
gunfire.

No motive was ever given for Mr. Hernandez's actions and his family
disputes the military's story. Relatives said the 10th-grader only carried
the rifle to protect his livestock from wild dogs and occasionally shoot
targets.

The shooting led to the suspension of armed military patrols on the border
and a national outcry among civil rights advocates, who said the report
Wednesday proves the patrols are wrong.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski