Posted on 08/14/2015 11:22:50 AM PDT by LeoWindhorse
Forty students and four Ranger instructors in the swamp phase of Ranger School were struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon.
All 44 were evacuated to a local hospital, but many were discharged, according to a press release from Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. Eleven soldiers remained hospitalized Thursday evening, according to a news report.
“At the time of the incident, they were conducting lightning-protection protocols when lightning struck nearby,” the release states.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Yikes!
During stormy weather, they make you stack your weapons and equipment and move away some distance, but these things can also happen without much warning.
While doing some training in Fort Gordon we were told a certain tree was our rally point in case of lightning. I thought, “That’s kind of stupid as tall trees are more vulnerable.”
I’d rather we all moved into one of the gullies.
Seems the protocols need revising...
Women are bad luck!
Picked a good day for it.
LOL, that’s good.
And I hope those remaining in the hospital make a full recovery.
Yes, one of my cousins was killed by a lightning strike on a clear blue day. He was in basic training, had been digging ditches, and was on the way back to the barracks.
For those who didn’t click through to the article, who were wondering about swamps at Fort Benning, the soldiers were at Camp Rudder at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. THAT makes sense.
They also have a camp up near Dahlonega in the North Georgia mountains.
Happened to us at Benning in July ‘69 during noon chow at a field class. All of us were standing around trying to wolf our food down in a driving rain when KABOOM!. Hit one of the candidates standing by himself about 20 feet from the rest of us.
Poor bastard had to be recycled.
Lighting is tricky stuff. Never know exactly where it will strike.
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. Someone up there is not happy about the Army sending females to Ranger School.
Even God is showing his displeasure that girls are going to Ranger School
Lightning is a minor impediment compared to SERE.
Lightning can be a big problem on all the southern coastal plain, from NC on down to FL and across the Gulf coast. FL leads the nation in lightning deaths, NC is I believe 2nd. Thunderstorms just pop up, very frequently. Golfers are particularly at risk.
I hope the Protocols didn’t tell them to lie flat on the ground with their arms extended.
I hope all recover quickly and fully.
Back in the mid-90s a storm popped up over Fort Jackson, SC. The DSs of one unit on bivouac had all the trainees go into their pup tents.
Lightning hit a pine tree and went down the tree and out the roots. One of the kids was on a root and the electricity entered his upper body and exited his right boot. Blew out his ventricles, poor kid never knew what hit him.
Lord, please heal and protect them. Amen.
I thought there were some swampy areas down by the river.
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