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CMC died after allegedly assaulting family

SAN DIEGO — Naval investigators are searching for clues to an apparent violent assault by a command master chief in Japan that left his son dead and his wife and daughter injured before he later died in a motorcycle accident.

Command Master Chief (SW/AW) John W. Bench, 39, had left his on-base home and was killed Aug. 30 when his motorcycle crashed on a road in Sasebo “shortly afterward,” according to Navy officials.

The assaults happened inside Bench’s military home at Fleet Activities Sasebo, said Lt. Denver Applehans, a spokesman for Expeditionary Strike Group 7.

At the time of his death, Bench had just wrapped up a tour as the top enlisted sailor aboard the amphibious transport dock Denver and was preparing to become the command master chief and senior enlisted adviser for Task Force 76 in Sasebo, Applehans said.

“He had ... detached from the ship. He was in that transition period,” he said.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents are investigating the apparent assaults on Bench’s wife and his two children, a 12-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, inside their home in the base’s main family housing area, Navy officials said.

“The NCIS investigation is still ongoing,” Fleet Activities Sasebo spokesman Chuck Howard said in an e-mail. “The wife is still in a local hospital. Her condition remains critical but guarded and she has shown signs of improvement.”

Bench’s daughter was taken to the base’s branch medical clinic and was treated and released, officials said. Bench, of Hamlin, W.Va., had served as Denver’s senior sailor since July 14, 2008, cross-decking from the amphibious transport dock Juneau, according to the Navy.

Just what caused Bench to apparently attack his family isn’t clear. “It’s all part of the investigation,” Applehans said. “Before the incident, there were ... no allegations for personal or for professional” wrongdoing involving the master chief, he added.

Japanese authorities were investigating the crash. Bench had served on seven ships through his 22-year career, including the aircraft carrier George Washington, fast combat support ship Seattle, amphibious transport dock Dubuque, cruiser Shiloh and destroyer Fife. Before arriving in Japan for his most recent tour, he served as a mine countermeasures crew leader in San Diego, according to information provided by Navy Personnel Command. He was promoted to master chief June 16, 2007.