San Diego Union-Tribune
October 15, 2007
Marine Suing Producer Of Training Film
Wounds in simulated capture ended lance corporal's career
By Debbi Farr Baker, Union-Tribune Breaking News Team
Marine Lance Cpl. Jesse Klingler was gagged and blindfolded with his hands and legs tied behind him when an actor playing the role of an enemy combatant pressed an AK-47 loaded with blanks against his right thigh and fired.
The rifle sent a fireball of gases into Klingler's leg, leaving him with a bloody wound that ended his military career.
Klingler, then 18, was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan in 2004 when he was tapped to take part in a simulated capture and interrogation during training at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. The incident was detailed in the report from the Marine Corps' investigation.
The actor, employed by Strategic Operations Inc., repeatedly punched and kicked Klingler, who was lying on his back, and demanded that he answer questions, the report said. At one point in the mock interrogation, the man pressed an unloaded gun against Klingler's groin and pulled the trigger.
Strategic Operations Inc. is a military contractor that conducts training exercises designed to realistically simulate the environments troops will find in war.
The next thing Klingler remembers was hearing the man yelling for someone to get his magazine, the sound of an AK-47 assault rifle being loaded and the crack of a gunshot as the gun's barrel pushed hard against his leg.
“There was a bang, my leg felt numb, then I felt extravagant pain,” Klingler, of Lebanon, Tenn., said in an interview.
He rolled to his side to get away, but the actor put his foot in the middle of Klingler's back and fired again, hitting him in the other leg.
Klingler then turned over onto his stomach. Just as he felt the hot muzzle of the gun being pressed against the base of his neck, Marine instructors intervened and stopped the exercise.
The internal investigation conducted by the Marine Corps after the incident on Sept. 18, 2004, described the training scenario as a poorly supervised, “opportunistic, un-briefed event.”
The report went on to say that “quick action of the instructors prevented the incident from becoming deadly by removing the weapon from the actor and tending to the Marine.”
Klingler is suing San Diego-based Strategic Operations Inc. and Stu Segall Productions Inc., both owned by the television and movie producer, over the injuries he suffered in the exercise. The trial is expected to get under way today in Superior Court.
The suit also names Rocky Mohsen, who was working as a role player for Strategic Operations. Mohsen, 46, who is also known as Ali Mohammad Mohsen, is Lebanese immigrant who speaks fluent Arabic. He was fired immediately after the incident, the Marines' report said. All the parties in the case agree that Mohsen fired the gun into Klingler's thigh at point-blank range. What they do not agree upon is who is at fault.
According to the Marines' report, Mohsen had told his employers that he had served in the Lebanese army and was a sharpshooter experienced in handling automatic weapons.
Mohsen did not tell them that he is a felon with at least two drug convictions and two restraining orders sought against him by women who said he was harassing and threatening them, said Klingler's lawyer, Robert Gaglione.
Neither the Marines nor the attorney representing Mohsen returned calls to discuss the case.
Mike Neil, a retired Marine brigadier general who is representing the Stu Segall companies, said the Marine Corps was at fault because it had full control of the situation. Neil describes the shooting as “an unfortunate accident,” and points to the Marines' findings that the accident could have been prevented if the training had been supervised properly.
The Marines' report stated “the level of coordination required in planning the next scheduled scenario did not allow supervisors to properly oversee the unscheduled Klingler exercise.” It also said the incident could have been prevented if one instructor had been assigned to provide “continuous, undistracted supervision.”
Neil said his client played no role in the incident, and that Mohsen's prior convictions, of which the company was unaware, “had nothing do with what happened.”
“This is a Marine Corps matter from beginning to end,” said Neil, a former commanding officer of Camp Pendleton.
Klingler's attorney says that Stu Segall Productions and Strategic Operations, which produce the training exercises, are to blame because the company hired a convicted felon and allowed him to handle a weapon, which is a violation of state and federal laws.
The company should have conducted a background check on Mohsen before hiring him, Gaglione said.
“This was a failure on the companies' part, not the military's,” he said. “They are supposed to train Marines, not injure them.”
The lawsuit asks for up to $2 million in damages to cover future lost wages, and medical costs and an additional amount for pain and suffering.
Klingler underwent two surgeries for the wound to his right thigh and was treated for a superficial burn to the other thigh. Klingler said he was hospitalized for two weeks, placed on 30 days of convalescent leave and received a medical discharge in September 2005.
He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and the Department of Veterans Affairs rated him as permanently disabled, Gaglione said.
Neil said the case is simply about money, that Klingler is exaggerating his injuries and that he is going after Stu Segall's deep pockets because he cannot sue the military.
Neil said Klingler's shooting was an isolated incident, that the company has an excellent safety record and that all its employees undergo safety lectures.
“Stu Segall is a very patriotic American who goes to great lengths to assist the Marine Corps in preparing realistic scenarios that prepare Marines for the world they are going to face when they go to Iraq,” he said. “Sometimes accidents occur.”
Klingler, now 21, said that Segall should step up and accept responsibility.
“It saddens me that I would put my life on the line for him and his family and they're not standing up and doing what's right,” he said.
You know, I'm almost positive that if a Marine had pulled the trigger his ass would have been thrown in the brig.
