Apparently the U.S. Army is provisioned in much the same way that corporations dole out their I.T. budgets; if the entire budget isn’t used at the end of the year, they obviously didn’t need the money and don’t get as much the next year. In the I.T. world this leads to wonderfully expensive wheelie chairs and “upgrades” to the I.T. staff computers, but in the military this means a gigantic orgy of cordite and plumbum. And naturally, something can go horribly wrong.
This story is all about how one dumbass, butterbar Lieutenant (me) planned, coordinated, and executed one such range and nearly got a lot of people maimed doing so.
A post (which I shamelessly stole from Reddit, thanks guys) chronicles what is quite possibly the most dangerous range ever on the face of the earth. The lieutenant, now retelling the story for the entertainment of the internet, was instructed to “not return with a single live round” and then sent off with…
15,000 rounds of 5.56 ball ammo for the M-16
10,000 rounds of 9mm ammo for the pistol
7,000 rounds of 7.62mm for the M60 machine gun
2,000 rounds of 40mm grenades for the M203 grenade launcher
8 hand grenades
15 claymore mines
1 AT-4 rocket
You can already see this going very badly. The story starts out with sheer stupidity and doesn’t stop until the ride is over.
The first indication that this range was destined for lore were the elderly Korean civilians walking leisurely downrange. No matter how much our interpreter implored them to leave (through a bullhorn), they were intent on gathering up rare indigenous roots for some pagan ritual (or just to sell at a local market) and had no interest in petty American qualifications.
“Should I put a round downrange near them to get our point across?” an NCO asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
In hindsight, I’m an idiot. Thankfully this NCO was a good shot and the tracer round that flew over atashi’s (the Korean word for gentleman) head had the desired effect. He picked up his one-eyed dragon wheelbarrow and left quickly, probably to inform his local politician that Americans were trying to kill him.
On the one hand, it was extremely effective in clearing the range. On the other hand, it was massively dangerous. But wait, there’s more!
With a ceasefire in effect (and no one injured), I figured it was time to walk down range and throw the 8 hand grenades we brought. Too bad only six of them exploded. Now I had a real problem. I couldn’t leave a dud on the range or some atashi like the previous one might step on it while collecting snipes. Luckily I had a stroke of brilliance.
“Let’s keep shooting and hope someone hits them.”
I recently passed the U.S.M.C. Level 1 Range Safety Officer test, and there were a few gems that I took away from my studies. Only one 500 lb. bomb can be dropped per pass per airplane. No simunitions should be used below 38 degrees. And if a grenade fails to explode, E.O.D. should be on the scene faster than an ambulance responding to their station’s front ramp. I’m pretty sure “shooting it with a machine gun” isn’t an approved method of dealing with unexploded ordinance.
That wasn’t the only E.O.D. related oopsie either.
“There’s only two fucking clackers!” Sergeant First Class Snuffy said. We had fifteen claymore mines, but somehow the detonators had all disappeared. It was time for another stroke of innovative genius, but I was tapped having used mine for the day. Seconds later I heard one of the few phrases I hope to never hear again.
“Don’t worry sir. I know how to get rid of them,” Sergeant First Class Snuffy said. Major Good Ideafairy’s guidance echoed in my head again – “Don’t bring anything back,” so I nodded my head weakly. It was time for a red-barrel ceasefire anyway, so off he went with two other troops and a bag of mines. What could happen?
Thirty minutes later I was halfway through an MRE when my eyes wandered over a densely foliaged part of the range. There I beheld our masterful Sergeant First Class Snuffy waving his arm over his head. “What is he…” I said as I choked down a dehydrated beef patty. Suddenly he dove for cover and BOOM!!!
“Jesus Christ!” more than one of us yelled. While explaining himself to the Sergeant Major after lunch, we learned that Sergeant First Class Snuffy had daisy-chained all fifteen claymores to two clackers to detonate them. He told his two soldiers, “when you see me wave my hand and dive for my life, clack away.”
Apparently the words “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” aren’t popular in Korea.
The aftermath was swift, assured, and oddly enough directed at the proper person.
“Let’s see,” he started. “Sniping at a civilian, destroying two weapons, firing dud-producing rounds, shooting at hand grenades, firing up but not down range, daisy chaining mines together, and firing an anti-tank weapon without clearing the backblast. Are you really even surprised this happened?”
“Uh…,” I stammered. “Yes?”
“Not you,” he replied. “You.” He glared at Major Good Ideafairy with the white hot intensity of a million suns. When I realized who he was addressing, I leaned ever-so-slightly to my left so he could get a clear shot at him.
“Sir?” Good Ideafairy replied.
I’ll never forget Bearclaw’s response.
“He did exactly what you told him to do-shoot off every round. And though the ends don’t justify the means and he is the dumbest moron in stupidville (his actual words), he at least showed creativity in accomplishing his mission and didn’t let petty obstacles, like civilians in the line of fire, stop him. I hold you responsible. You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”
Moral of the story? Lieutenants, like computers, will do exactly what you tell them to. And that’s the problem.
Oh, and also:
- Call E.O.D. for ANY unexploded ordinance.
- DO NOT continuously fire your weapon until the barrel is cherry red. Unless you like rounds cooking off before you pull the trigger.
- DO NOT fire straight up into the air. That stuff comes down, you know.
- Only ONE claymore per clacker on a range.
- ALWAYS clear the backblast of a shoulder fired rocket launcher.
- DO NOT clear a range of civilians by firing warning shots over their heads.
I think I got everything. The full story has some extra bits of hilarious yet “how did you survive?” moments and is well worth a read.
“Apparently the U.S. Army is provisioned in much the same way that corporations dole out their I.T. budgets; if the entire budget isn’t used at the end of the year, they obviously didn’t need the money and don’t get as much the next year.”
It’s not just the Army. It’s true for every state and federal government agency that’s funded via annual appropriations. The “feeding frenzy” at the end of every September as the FY draws to a close results in billions of the taxpayers’ dollars being wasted on stuff that’s not needed because managers know their budget will be cut in the next FY if they don’t use up every cent in this year’s. It’s a stupid way to run a budget, but then again, what part of anything related to the government is run makes sense?
15 claymores is a new record. We did 7 daisy chaned with det cord. Range control didn’t find it amusing.
We had to stop the range when deer ran across it during a M60 qual. They didn’t mind the dust and bullets kicking up, so we hd to wait them out.
But once I “heard” of someone popping a skunk at the end of the qualification with M16s.
The general reason for not bringing ammo back is that there is 5 times the amount of paperwork to turn it in then to take it out and none of the officers want to do all that paperwork.
Also, the shit is heavy, and who wants to carry it further than necessary.
omg i dunno if this is awesome of terrifying, i would love to see an at-4 fired live tho.
The three most dangerous phrases you can hear in the USMC:
1. A 2nd lieutenant saying, “Based on my experience…”
2. A staff sergeant saying, “It’s supposed to do that, sir.”
3. A master gunnery sergeant saying, “Hold my beer, watch this s**t.”
Semper fi.
*Edited by poster for language
Hah! Exactly! I’m sorry to say I’ve heard all 3 phrases in my time in the Corps.
Semper Fi.
HA! And I thought chasing a deer through the woods and then playing chicken with an Army National Guard APC in my M60A1 tank was bad! They told me to add some miles… Semper Fi!
Unswallowed Coke all over keyboard. Thanks!
In the USCG:
1. An Ensign saying “Do it my way. I outrank you.”
2. A 3rd class PO saying “It always does that.”
3. A Master Chief PO saying “This will take care of the problem…””
4. An Admiral saying “I don’t care how you do it. Get it done!”
Moon you got it wrong:
a 2Lt that says: it’s been my experiance
a Cpt that says: I’ve made my decision and
a Warrant officer that says: watch this
This plan looks like it was created by a civilian, an officer, and an enlisted man with a college degree.
15,000 rounds of 5.56 ball ammo, 10,000 rounds of 9mm ammo, 7,000 rounds of 7.62x51mm, 2,000 rounds of 40mm grenades, 8 hand grenades, 15 claymore mines and 1 AT-4 rocket is what I usually keep in my range bag. Plus a partridge in a pear tree during the holiday season.
Don’t forget the OC grenades-I hate waiting in lines…
I still miss the barracks buffing machine races…
Oh, man, did you just bring back a memory. And if you had open-bay barracks with exposed ductwork, you quickly figured out how to clean the ductwork without going up and down a ladder all day long.
Drive a truck in?
That brings back memories.
I think most of us who were combat arms lieutenants have been guilty of more than a few “unsafe acts” while learning where the left and right limits lie. I can recall one that involved a few “extra” blocks of C4, an loaf of bread leftover from our “hot A” breakfast, and a small flock of hungry ravens…
Ummm….add to the list “charge bags from 81mm” …M49A1trip flares, and leftover Mk19 and M203 grenades… We had some Russian ammo one time that needed to “disapear” ASAP…..
If you just wanted to destroy the stuff, pile it all together (including greanades, ammo, etc.), cover with something to contain the blast (earth, etc.) and ‘clack’ or whatever one of the claymores. Advice from an ex MOS 1331.
this all sounds SOP to me. only last time i was on the range we each had:
20,000 rounds of 5.56 ball ammo for the M-4
2,000 rounds of 9mm ammo for the M-9 pistol
12,000 rounds of 7.62mm for the M240B machine gun
500 rounds of 40mm grenades for the M203 grenade launcher
40 hand grenades
4 packs of water proof matches
then all 9 of us spent the day ensuring that each of us shot expert with everything, even if it meant that all of us had to shoot on the same line together.
Ah, good times. fun memories.