Mystery as Camp Lejeune Marine sergeant, 23, dies in late-night training mission near controversial military base

A US Marine was killed in a training exercise near Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Sgt. Colin Arslanbas, 23, died on Thursday during late-night training in Carteret County, about 100 miles southeast of Greenville. 

The Missouri native had just been promoted to the rank of sergeant on April 1st, serving as a Reconnaissance Marine with the Maritime Special Purpose Force.

He had enlisted in the Marine Corps in March, 2020. 

A spokesman for the Marines told DailyMail.com on Monday the training accident is under investigation but did not provide additional details. 

Sgt. Colin Arslanbas, 23, died on Thursday during late-night training in Carteret County, NC

He had enlisted in the Marine Corps in March, 2020 and promoted to sergeant in April

'Words cannot convey our sorrow for the tragic loss of one of our MEU family members,' said Col. Todd Mahar, 24th MEU commanding officer.

'The 24th MEU family mourns the loss of an outstanding Marine and leader. We offer our deepest condolences and unwavering support to his family during this most difficult time.'

Arslanbas's tragic death comes after newly-married 23-year-old Sgt. Alec Langen and four other marines was killed in a training exercise in California in February. 

All five Marines were killed when their helicopter went down during stormy weather in the mountains close to San Diego.

Camp Lejeune has been plagued with scandal over the base's contaminated drinking water and its connection to cancer diagnoses in the officials who served there.

Military personnel stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20 percent higher risk for a number of cancers than those stationed elsewhere, federal health officials said earlier this year. 

Arslanbas, second from the left, shared the above photo with fellow officers in July, 2021

'Words cannot convey our sorrow for the tragic loss of one of our MEU family members,' said Col. Todd Mahar, 24th MEU commanding officer

Federal health officials called the research one the largest ever done in the United States to assess cancer risk by comparing a group who live and worked in a polluted environment to a similar group that did not.

The study found military personnel stationed at the Marine Corps Base were at higher risk for some types of leukemia and lymphoma and cancers of the lung, breast, throat, esophagus and thyroid. Civilians who worked at the base also were at a higher risk for a shorter list of cancers.

The study is 'quite impressive,' but cannot count as final proof that the tainted drinking water caused the cancers, said David Savitz, a Brown University disease researcher who is consulting for plaintiffs’ attorneys in Camp Lejeune-related litigation.

Camp Lejeune was built in a sandy pine forest along the North Carolina coast in the early 1940s. Its drinking water was contaminated with industrial solvents from the early 1950s to 1985. The contamination — detected in the early 1980s — was blamed on a poorly maintained fuel depot and indiscriminate dumping on the base, as well as from an off-base dry cleaner.

U.S. Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct a unit physical training (PT) competition on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, October 28, 2022

Camp Lejeune has been plagued with scandal over the base's contaminated drinking water and its connection to cancer diagnoses in the officials who served there

Before wells were shut down, contaminated water was piped to barracks, offices, housing for enlisted families, schools and the base’s hospital. Military personnel and families drank it, cooked with it and bathed in it.

The contamination has spawned a wave of litigation by law firms who have aggressively sought out clients with TV ads.

People who got sick after being at Camp Lejeune have accused the Marine Corps of failing to protect the health of its personnel and criticized the federal government for being slow to investigate. Marine Corps officials have repeatedly said that federal environmental regulations for these cancer-causing chemicals were not finalized until 1989, after the wells were shut down.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, an Atlanta-based sister agency to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has done about a half-dozen studies focused on health problems in people at Camp Lejeune. Those studies were smaller than the new one, and had varied focuses, including male breast cancer rates and birth defects in children born to base personnel.

A federal law signed by President Joe Biden in August 2022 included language to address concerns of people who developed certain health problems they believe were linked to Camp Lejeune water contamination. It gave them a two-year window to file claims.