WASHINGTON — A U.S. Marine staff sergeant who urinated on dead Taliban insurgents and posed for photographs with the bodies has pleaded guilty to two charges in a military court, the Marine Corps said on Thursday.

His sentence was a reduction in rank and forfeiture of $500 in pay.

Staff Sergeant Joseph Chamblin pleaded guilty at a special court martial at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to dereliction of duty for failing to properly supervise junior Marines. He also pleaded guilty to wrongfully urinating on a deceased enemy combatant.

The incident occurred during a counter-insurgency operation in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in July 2011. It came to light in January this year when a videotape of the incident was posted on YouTube and other websites.

The video showed four men in camouflage Marine combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them joked, "Have a nice day, buddy," while another made a lewd joke.

'Deplorable': US defense chief condemns urinating Marines video

The video was one of a series of offensive incidents involving U.S. service members that roused Afghan ire and led to heightened tensions between Washington and Kabul earlier this year.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the actions in the video as "inhuman" and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta telephoned him to denounce the incident as "deplorable" and promise an investigation.

Chamblin was charged with failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear protective equipment, failing to report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher, and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons, the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Chamblin waived his right to a jury and pleaded guilty to two counts before a military judge, the statement said. The judge levied a penalty that including 30 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, but because of a pretrial agreement Chamblin received a lesser sentence.

Extreme war stresses to blame in Marine urination video?

The maximum penalty under the agreement was a reduction in rank to sergeant and a forfeiture of $500 in pay for one month, the statement said.

The Marine Corps declined to release details about the evidence or the findings of the investigation because, it said, cases were still pending related to the urination video incident.

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Two Marines are facing criminal charges for allegedly urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters last year in Afghanistan and posing for unofficial photos with casualties, Marine officials announced on Monday.

The criminal charges are the first levied on anyone over the incident, which was recorded on video and circulated on YouTube.

The video, which showed Marines in full combat gear urinating on the bodies of three dead men, triggered widespread anger in Afghanistan early this year, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling the Marines' actions "inhuman." Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he feared that the video could set back efforts to begin reconciliation talks with the Taliban.

The charged Marines, Staff Sergeants Joseph W. Chamblin and Edward W. Deptola, who were referred to trial by court martial, also face charges for failing to properly supervise junior Marines and failing to stop and report misconduct of junior Marines. 

Related: Military punishes soldiers for Quran burning, Marines for urinating on Taliban corpses

The Marine Corps investigation showed that although the video was only circulated on the Internet in January, the incident actually took place on or around July 27, 2011, during a counter-insurgency operation in Afghanistan's Helmand province. 

The Marine Corps said on August 27 that three Marines pleaded guilty to charges over the video. But their punishment fell short of criminal prosecution.

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Chamblin and Deptola, on the other hand, also face a series charges for failing to supervise junior Marines.

This includes simple things like failing to require them to wear protective equipment to more serious breaches, like failing to report the "negligent discharge" of a grenade launcher. Deptola is also charged with failing to stop the unnecessary damaging of Afghan compounds, the Marines said.

The Marines said there were other pending cases in the video investigation. They declined to elaborate on the incident in which the negligent actions took place.

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After a lengthy investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., made the decision to refer the cases to court martial, the Marine Corps Times reported.

Both Marines are from the Third Battalion, Second Marine Regiment at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.  No date has been set for their court martial.

NBC News Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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T

New in this version: Prince not involved

Updated at 7:30 p.m. ET: Two U.S. members of the NATO force in Southern Afghanistan were killed and several others were wounded Friday night in a complex attack on the U.S. Marine half of Camp Bastion/Leatherneck — the same camp where Britain's Prince Harry is based — U.S. and NATO officials told NBC News.

NATO officials said that Prince Harry was on the base at the time, but "never in any danger," Reuters reported.

AP file

Prince Harry at Camp Bastion/Leatherneck in Afghanistan last weekend. Initial reports were that he wasn't involved in the fighting that killed two U.S. members of the NATO force stationed there.

All of the casualties appeared to be Americans, NATO officials said.

The Leatherneck half of the joint NATO operations center in Helmand Province is home to members of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, which serves as the southwest regional command.

The attack, involving small arms and mortars, was launched against the International Security Assistance Force shortly after midnight local time (3 p.m. ET). Casualty assessments were still under way, but Camp Leatherneck took the brunt of the attack, officials said.

British defense officials told reporters only that they were "aware of an incident" at the base and that "the incident is being dealt with."

The Taliban launched what it called the "Harry Operations" on Monday, threatening to do everything in its power to kill Prince Harry, 27, who is third in line to the British throne, after British forces announced his four-month deployment to Camp Bastion.

Apart from the significance of the prince's being based there, the attack is notable as the worst yet on Camp Bastion/Leatherneck.

In March, a civilian Afghan worker tried to assassinate U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta by driving his car into Panetta's plane as it arrived at the camp. The assailant died from burns; a British serviceman was injured.

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Updated at 6:54 p.m. ET: WASHINGTON - The U.S. military on Monday dealt out punishment to six Army soldiers for burning Qurans at Bagram Air Base that ignited deadly protest in Afghanistan, and to three Marines for their roles in urinating on Taliban corpses.

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The Army handed out administrative discipline to four officers and two non-commissioned officers for the Quran burning but found no ill intent on the part of the soldiers so none will face criminal charges.  

The administrative punishment, however, will likely result in the end of their military careers.

The investigation against one sailor was dropped when it was determined he was simply ordered to drive the truck with the material to the burn site at the base.

The burning of the Muslim holy books in February sparked weeks of protests that led to 30 Afghan deaths. U.S. officials said at the time the books were mistakenly sent along with garbage for disposal after detainees had written messages in them.

The investigation found up to 100 Qurans and other religious materials were burned in the incinerator at Bagram Air Field on Feb. 20. 

An Army report released on the incident Monday shed new light on what happened that day.

Report: 5 soldiers involved in Quran burning

Members of the Military Police and Theater Intelligence Team had discovered that Bagram detainees were using library books to pass notes and messages. One interpreter determined that 60 percent to 75 percent of the books contained extremist content. So, soldiers were ordered to remove the books as contraband. In all, about 2,000 books, including Qurans and other religious material, were set to be destroyed. 

An Afghan National Army soldier and and interpreter warned the troops not to dispose of the religious texts, but soldiers took some 100 books to the burn pit anyway.

A local man who worked at the burn pit discovered the Qurans and other texts were burning. He grabbed a front-end loader and doused the entire burn pit to extinguish the flames.

An angry crowd of Afghans gathered around the U.S. service members who drove the truck to the burn pit and were burning the material. The U.S. soldiers all fled.

"I absolutely reject any suggestion that those involved acted with any malicious intent to disrespect the Quran or defame the faith of Islam," an investigator wrote. "Ultimately, this was a tragic incident (that) resulted from a lack of cross-talk between leaders and commanders, a lack of senior involvement in giving clear guidance in a complex operation” and “distrust among our service members and our partners.”  

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Hoshang Hashimi / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

In the other case, a statement from the Marine Corps said the three Marines received the punishment for "violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for their role in the desecration and filming of deceased Taliban that became public in January 2012."

As part of a plea deal, three Marines pleaded guilty and will receive a permanent mark on their records that will impact any future promotions and re-enlistments.

Six more Marines are still awaiting their punishments in the urination incident, which was recorded on video. It was announced, however, that two officers will be charged with creating a command climate that led to acts of bad behavior, the Marine Corps said. It was unclear what disciplinary action the four other non-commissioned officers will face.

The three Marines were all members of the Third Battalion, Second Marine Regiment or in units that were attached to the "3/2" during their deployment. Their names were not released. 

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One non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to having violated a general order by wrongfully posing for an unofficial photograph with human casualties and urinating on the body of a deceased Taliban soldier, which conduct was prejudicial to good order and discipline.

Another non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to wrongfully posing for an unofficial photograph with human casualties and wrongfully video recording the incident. 

A staff non-commissioned officer pleaded guilty to failing to report the mistreatment of human casualties by other Marines and making a false official statement to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigator about the his knowledge of the video.

The incident took place during a counter-insurgency operation near Sandala, Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan around July 27, 2011. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials in Afghanistan were bracing for public demonstrations over what might be viewed as lenient punishment of the troops.

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• Afghan clerics demand trial of Quran burners at US base
• 'Deplorable': U.S. defense chief condemns urinating Marines video
• Extreme war stresses to blame in Marine urination video?

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ULUGAN BAY, Philippines – First ashore were a group of scouts, swimming slowly and silently to the beach, gauging the defenses before calling in the main body of 84 U.S. and Philippine Marines.

It was all stealth – at least until they were surrounded by camera-wielding journalists.

"Will the media please stay in a group to one side," came the plea through loud speakers from the sort of master-of-ceremonies from the Philippines military.

"This would normally be taking place at night," he informed us. "And they would be wearing night-goggles," he continued. "Please will the media stay to one side."

Ian Williams /NBC News

U.S. and Philippine Marines participate in a joint exercise in Ulugan Bay, Philippines on Wednesday.

The main body of Marines swept in, crouching in their inflatables, guns at the ready. But the journalists were equally well prepared. The Philippines media is nothing if not feisty, and completely ignored the increasingly forlorn voice on the loud speaker. They were immediately at the side of the Marines as, through a fog of fake smoke grenades, they launched an assault on a compound that had been taken over by "terrorists.”

"Will the media please group to one side,” the refrain continued. Thank goodness the troops were firing blanks.

Playing down China’s fears
These exercises are an annual event, and Wednesday's drill was the culmination of two weeks of exercises that have involved 4,500 U.S. soldiers and 2,500 from the Philippines.

It comes at a time of rising tension in the energy-rich South China Sea, ownership of which is disputed by China (which claims just about all of it), as well as the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.  

Beijing has been increasingly assertive in the area, and the U.S.-Philippine drill coincides with a tense stand-off between Chinese and Philippine vessels around Scarborough Shoal in a different part of the South China Sea.

Beijing has condemned the current exercises, saying it raises the risk of confrontation. But U.S. officials Wednesday were keen to play down the China angle, insisting the exercises were all routine.

/

US and Philippine Marines participate in a joint exercise in Ulugan Bay, Philippines on Wednesday.

"[The joint-exercises] been taking place for decades," Ensign Bryan Mitchell, the US. Marine spokesman, told me.

"The planning took place months and months ago. There are a whole range of real world applications." Much of this year's exercises have been geared towards humanitarian relief, he added.

"For us this exercise is all about achieving inter-operability, and we are not allowing any of the other things going on to let us lose focus on that."

The purpose of the exercise was a little more blurred for Neil Estrella, a spokesman for the Philippine forces. An exuberant man in dark glasses, he waved his arms towards the South China Sea in front of him.

"China, they claim it all," he said with a sharp distaining laugh. "They'll be claiming America next."

I asked him about the scenario of Wednesday's exercise, re-taking a coastal base from "terrorists."

There was another disdainful laugh as he shifted his glasses. "This could just as easily be an island," he said. "We call them terrorists – but it’s a generic term."

As we spoke, loud pops and bangs punctuated the conversation as the Marines continued to clear the buildings behind us, and the increasingly exasperated voice on the loud speaker urged: "Will the media PLEASE keep to one side."

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In a highly unusual move, around 200 U.S. Marines were asked to leave their weapons outside the tent where U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was set to speak during his trip to Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Although the military said the order was not given in response to Sunday's shooting of 16 Afghan civilians allegedly by an American soldier, it possibly underlined how high tensions were running after the incident.

"You've got one of the most important people in the world in the room," Maj. Gen. Mark Gurganus told reporters at Camp Leatherneck, dismissing concerns related to the shooting. "This is not a big deal."

He said he had given the order because the two dozen Afghan soldiers also there were unarmed and he did not want to treat them differently.

Chris Turner / Pool

Troops stacking guns at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan before the arrival of U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday.

Among those killed Sunday were nine children, and some of the bodies were reportedly burned. The suspect, who hasn't been named, is in U.S. custody.

According to reporters at Camp Leatherneck, the Marines were waiting to hear Panetta's speech when they were abruptly told by their commander to get up, leave their weapons, including M16 and M-4 automatic rifles and 9 mm pistols, outside and return unarmed.

"All I know is I was told to get the weapons out," Sergeant Major Brandon Hall told The New York Times. Asked why, he replied, "Somebody got itchy, that's all I've got to say. Somebody got itchy; we just adjust."

Hall said he was acting on orders from superiors, the Times reported.

'Sends the wrong message'
Military officials in Washington told NBC News' chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski that the decision to disarm the Marines was indeed significant.

Panetta: Village massacre won't deter US mission

"It sends the wrong message" that Marines can't be trusted in the presence of the secretary of defense," one told him.

According to one official the decision was "stupid."

Miklaszewski also told NBC's Chuck Todd Wednesday that the move was "highly unusual" and that Marines in combat zones are always supposed to have weapons within their reach.

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NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

HONOLULU -- All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday.

The CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she's saddened to hear of the deaths. Her spokeswoman, Ashley Nagaoka Boylan, said the congresswoman was notified Thursday evening that all six Marines were Hawaii-based.

The commander of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363,  Lt. Col. Mark Revor, said on the unit's Facebook page that all six killed were from the Kaneohe-based unit, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

France considers early withdrawal from Afghanistan

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed all six were Marines on condition of anonymity because the U.S. command in Afghanistan had not yet publicly released details.

Family members identified one of those killed as Marine Cpl. Kevin Reinhard, 25, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. Reinhard was a 2005 graduate of St. Joseph High School in Metuchen.

An obituary written by his family and provided to The Star-Ledger said Reinhard, based in Hawaii, was a crew chief who served on Sikorsky Sea Stallion helicopters.

"For his family and friends he was already a hero ... before he ever put on a uniform for his country," his relatives wrote. "The uniform only announced to the rest of the world what a wonderful man, what a wonderful soul he was — that he was a hero for all of us."

Arkansas family loses second son in Afghanistan

Reinhard joined the Marine Corps in 2008 and was with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363, the Lucky Red Lions.

The unit deployed in late August to southern Afghanistan and is scheduled to return home in March, Hawaii News Now reported. The unit's mission is to provide assault support, transport Marines and critical supplies, as well as equipment during expeditionary operations

The CH-53D, a Vietnam War-era helicopter, is the same model as one that crashed and killed a Marine in a bay off Hawaii on March 29. An investigation later revealed mechanical failure caused that accident.

The defense official said there is no indication that the helicopter in Afghanistan was hit by enemy fire.

'Tragic news'
Thursday's crash was the deadliest in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province in the center of the country.

The cause of the latest crash is still being investigated, but a statement issued by the NATO international military coalition said there was no enemy activity in the area when it happened.

German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the NATO coalition in Kabul, said officials were looking at a "technical fault" as the possible culprit.

"The helicopter is one of the safest forms of transport," Jacobson said. He said not only does it protect troops the danger of roadside bombs on the ground, but it is well-tested, well-proven way to travel.

Previous story: 6 Marines die in Afghanistan copter crash

CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters were first used in the 1960s, and the Marine Corps used them in the Vietnam War.

All Sea Stallions still used operationally are stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. The military plans to replace them with the MV-22 Osprey.

"The loss of the six U.S. Marines in yesterday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan comes as tragic news for our island community and our nation," U.S. Rep. Mazie K. Hirono, of Hawaii, said in a statement. "We owe them and all of our brave servicemen and women a debt of gratitude for their dedication to our country."

In 2005, the same base lost 27 Marines when a CH-53E Super Stallion deployed to Iraq crashed during a desert sandstorm. Altogether, 30 Marines and a Navy medic were killed in that crash.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Updated at 3:33 a.m. ET: A helicopter crash in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan killed six U.S. Marines, the NATO military command in Kabul told NBC News early Friday.

Officials said there were no signs of enemy activity in the area at time of the crash.

The Marines have a substantial presence in Helmand province.

• NYT: Afghan soldiers killing more US allies

"We are still in the process of gathering more information on the incident," an official told Reuters.

It is the worst crash since last August when 30 soldiers, including 22 elite Navy SEAL commandos, died when their helicopter came down in eastern Afghanistan.

• US Army rejects argument to arm medevac helicopters

The Helmand helicopter crash occurred on the same day seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying they were targeting a NATO convoy.

On Wednesday, 13 civilians, including three Afghan policemen, were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up in a bazaar in  Helmand province. At least 22 others were wounded in the blast in Kajaki district.

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NBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET:

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has condemned a video that apparently shows U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan men, promising to punish those involved.

"I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable," Panetta says in a statement, adding that he had ordered the Marine Corps and the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan to investigate the incident.

"Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent," he says.

The video that surfaced a day earlier appeared to show American forces urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters could aggravate anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan as the Obama administration hopes to end a decade-long war.

Updated at 6:58 a.m. ET:

President Hamid Karzai's government "strongly condemned" the video and called the actions by American soldiers "insulting" and "insane."

"The Islamic republic of Afghanistan is demanding the investigation and punishment for the solders from the U.S. government regarding this film as soon as possible," the presidential palace says in a statement released Thursday.

Updated at 6:31 a.m. ET:

The NATO-led International Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan comes close to acknowledging that it thinks the video is real and promises a criminal investigation.

"ISAF strongly condemns the actions depicted in the video, which appear to have been conducted by a small group of U.S. individuals, who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan," the coaltion says in a statement on Thursday. "This behavior dishonors the sacrifices and core values of every service member representing the fifty nations of the coalition."  

"Therefore, a United States Criminal Investigatory agency has launched an investigation. It will be thorough and any individuals with confirmed involvement will be held fully accountable,” ISAF's statement adds.

Published at 5:15 a.m. ET:

An Internet video showing what appear to be U.S. forces in Afghanistan urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters will not affect efforts to broker peace talks, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban said Thursday.

The video, posted on YouTube and other websites, shows four men in camouflage Marine combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them jokes: "Have a nice day, buddy." Another makes a lewd joke.

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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama awards Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer the Medal of Honor at the White House on Sept 15, 2011.

The White House on Thursday stood by the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Dakota Meyer despite a published report accusing the Marine Corps of embellishing details of Meyer’s heroics in recommending him for the military’s highest honor.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the narrative President Barack Obama read into the public record while awarding the medal to Meyer on Sept. 15 was based on documents provided by the Marine Corps that received “quite extensive” review, The Washington Post reported.

Meyer, the first living Marine since Vietnam to receive the Medal of Honor, declined to comment on the controversy, according to CBS TV station WLKY of Louisville, Ky. Meyer grew up in Adair County, Ky., and attended high school in Green County.

Obama had praised Meyer for defying orders and rushing into the heart of an ambush to retrieve fallen comrades, save 13 fellow Americans, kill eight Taliban insurgents and leave his gun turret to rescue two dozen Afghans.

Obama’s account of Meyer’s actions were based on “sworn testimony from Sgt. Meyer himself and eyewitness testimony from others present on the scene,” Carney told the Post.

“White House staff also personally spoke to Sgt. Meyer,” Carney added. “Our primary source for the president’s remarks was the official documentation provided by the Marine Corps. The president remains very proud of Sgt. Meyer and the remarkable acts of bravery he displayed on that day.”

The Marine Corps defended the account in a statement, saying: "We firmly stand behind the Medal of Honor (MOH) process and the conclusion that this Marine rightly deserved the nation's highest military honor."

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Marine, told NBC News in a statement that he had "no doubt" Meyer was appropriately recognized “given the Marine Corps' long tradition of rigid standards and its thorough review process regarding recommendations for combat awards.”

I have no doubt that Sergeant Meyer has been appropriately recognized for his actions on September 8, 2009 in Afghanistan.  Out of respect for the obvious heroism of Sergeant Meyer, it is important that any discussion of this matter begin with this recognition."

McClatchy Newspapers alleged that key facts in the Marines’ account of Meyer's actions in battle were inaccurate, overstated or unsubstantiated.

The McClatchy report was written by Jonathan Landay, a journalist who was accompanying Meyer's unit and witnessed the 2009 battle in the Ganjgal Valley.

It was not possible for Meyer to have saved 13 US troops, the article said, because 12 Americans were ambushed in the battle, including the McClatchy reporter, and four troopers were killed, it said.

And military documents indicated that the arrival of helicopters secured the survival of the remaining personnel, not Meyer's vehicle.

There are no statements from fellow troops confirming that Meyer, who has since left the military, killed eight Taliban as claimed on the Marine Corps website, the article said.

The driver of Meyer's vehicle, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, reported seeing Meyer kill one insurgent.

There were also no sworn statements that backed up the portrayal of Meyer leaping out of his gun turret and pulling the 24 wounded Afghans into his truck, according to the report.

Meyer's driver described nine Afghan soldiers getting into the Humvee armored vehicle by themselves while Meyer remained in the turret, it said.

The article also said there was no evidence that supported the White House and Marine Corps account that Meyer defied orders by heading toward gunfire to help his comrades.

The Marine Corps acknowledged that eyewitness accounts might differ but said that was typical in the confusion of combat and a rigorous process had been followed before the Medal of Honor was approved.

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