Second thought: The gun crew will probably get hired by BATFE.
Posted on 04/12/2008 12:33:55 PM PDT by Calpernia
Jefferson Township, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A piece of artillery that was apparently misfired by the military crashed through the roof of a home miles away Friday and injured a young girl's cat, which had to be euthanized, officials said.
No people were injured when the 2-pound piece hit the Jefferson Township home about 2 1/2 miles from the Picatinny Arsenal and landed in the girl's bed, said Peter Rowland, arsenal spokesman. She wasn't home, but her cat was sleeping on the bed.
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I did basic training at Fort Dix many years ago. I can’t say that I miss it.
I think an artillery shell fell short during training at Fort Drum, NY about 10 years ago and landed in a tent or something and killed 2 soldiers.
“To measure 4” x 6” and only weigh 2 pounds means that it was only about 1/4” thick. Sounds more like bomb casing shrapnel rather than artillery shrapnel. If it is shrapnel at all.”
Maybe an arrow?
Second thought: The gun crew will probably get hired by BATFE.
Even that doesn't fit the story.
The weight is too small the size of the projectile, especially a projectile capable of penetrating the roof of a house.
I’d like to know what kind of “artillery” fires something that size and weight”?
Maybe they were trying out one of those electro-magnetic rail guns.
Possibilities might be:
1. A fragment of a 105mm or 4.2" projectile could be that size but the weight seems wrong.
2. Some kind of experimental base ejector might meet that description.
When? I was stationed there 67/68.
As usual the media gets it pretty much all wrong. There is no way that a two pound device is artillery. I am not doubting it was a projectile nor am I doubting that the military fired it errantly. But what is so hard about getting your facts straight before going publishing an article?...it ain’t that hard. They just look foolish in my mind.
Also note that it was not just a cat that was wounded...it was a “young girl’s cat”. They made sure they got that fact correct. That is an attempt to create a more negative feeling toward the military.
Regardless of the stupidity and anti-military slant of the media, heads roll when ordinance is fired into locations where it is not supposed to be fired, especially off post and endangering civilians. Careers will end, and rightfully so.
From a NYT article published today:
“There is active concern that Fort Monmouth, Picatinny and the Philadelphia Naval Yard may go down,” said Representative Robert E. Andrews, Democrat of Bellmawr, who has actively lobbied in defense of the bases. “New Jersey seems to have been disproportionately targeted.”
Why don’t we just close this base and kill two birds with one stone?
“Picatinny”
Good name for a cat.
I’m about 10 miles north of Picatinny. The local libs are in full spin over this, calling for heads to roll.
It has been known that sometimes the gas checks or entire back ends came off of defective rounds during firing.
Saw a gas check fly off a round once back in the 70s. The thing spun away, glinting in the sunlight, in a different trajectory than the shell and flew to only God knows where.
A couple of similar occurances happened at FT Stewart, GA (3ID) while I was there, where their firing solutions were in error and they put shells outside the designated range areas. One time a training round landed in a trailer park, destroying several trailers. It happened during the middle of the day when everyone was at work. Fortunately no one was hurt there either but some heads rolled, that’s for sure.
::shruggs::
Didn’t give me any negatives towards our military. But it did make me want to find a bubble to stick my children in. “Children safe in bed” comfort was stolen.
Go back and reread the story.
They said the cat's dead, Jim.
I understand your sentiment, but the Army is definitely deathly serious (no pun intended) about units “firing out” as this is called. I can remember when a unit at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma fired a higher charge (makes it go farther) than the firing data called for and put a 203mm round in the back of a pickup trunk at a restaurant north of the Army post (no more pickup truck and big hole in the ground). Luckily nobody was hurt, but the battalion commander, battery commander, fire direction officer and platoon leader were all relieved and the non-commissioned officers received serious career-ending reprimands over the incident. It does not happen often but it’s a VERY serious matter.
If the artillery piece went through the house, did the shell end up sitting on the ground where the cannon was before it went flying uprange?
I understand. A misfire isn’t the only source of projectiles coming through the roof either. A tree can do that too. The writer of the article just won one with me by saying ‘child’s bed’. I wouldn’t have even reacted the same if they said kitchen or something.
Misfire hell, they got the little furball didn’t they?
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