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Arioso_hum
Newbie Poster
Username: Arioso_hum
Post Number: 12
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 01:22 pm: | 
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Did this idiot mistake the cafeteria for a military hide out?
NY TIMES NEWS TRACKER
National Guard Agrees to Halt Exercises After Attacking School
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
Published: November 6, 2004
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey demanded an explanation yesterday of a warplane's errant strafing of an Ocean County elementary school with cannon fire, and asked that the Air National Guard in Washington immediately suspend training operations in the state pending a full investigation.
Military officials quickly complied, but said there was still no explanation for the cannonading of the school in Little Egg Harbor Township on Wednesday night, which caused no injuries or major damage. The school's officials said that 970 children would return to classrooms on Monday, with bullet holes patched up and with official assurances that no warplanes would be streaking overhead.
But there was a deepening concern among parents and other residents of the sparsely populated township, 20 miles north of Atlantic City, who have lived for decades within earshot of Warren Grove Gunnery Range. The residents' concerns echoed those of Mr. Lautenberg.
In a letter to Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr., commander of the District of Columbia National Guard, Senator Lautenberg voiced alarm over the strafing, which occurred at 10:15 p.m. when an F-16 on a training flight out of Andrews Air Force Base fired 25 to 27 cannon shells that missed the target range by three miles and crashed down onto and around the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School.
"The actions of the pilot - whether accidental or not - are totally incomprehensible, and I therefore ask that the District of Columbia Air National Guard suspend all training operations in the state of New Jersey until this matter has been fully investigated," the senator wrote. "I ask that your prompt review produce a complete explanation of the circumstances, including a remedy that will absolutely guarantee that nothing like this can ever happen again."
Senator Lautenberg also requested a meeting with General Wherley and two subordinates in his command chain, Brig. Gen. Duane J. Lodrige, commander of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, and Col. Linda K. McTague, commander of the 113th Wing, to which the F-16 and its pilot are assigned.
Sgt. Lorenzo Parnell, a spokesman for General Wherley, said that training flights over the Warren Grove Gunnery Range had been suspended after the cannonading was reported, and that all training flights in the state would be suspended until after the inquiry, as the senator requested. Maj. Sheldon Smith, a spokesman for the 113th Wing, said that the aircraft and cannon were being inspected by investigators. "At this point, nothing has been ruled out. We don't know if it's a mechanical malfunction or human error."
Michael Dupuis, president of the township school board, said that he would ask military officials at the board's next meeting on Nov. 15 to restrict training permanently at the gunnery range to nighttime hours, and never to allow strafing or bombing while school is in session.
Since World War II, the gunnery has been used for training pilots and crews of bombers and fighters of the Air National Guard in New Jersey and other Marine, Navy and Air Force units. In recent years, stray bombs have set brush fires, and a jet fighter crashed near the Garden State Parkway in 2002, although the pilot parachuted to safety.
A half-dozen residents yesterday voiced shock over the cannonading.
Wayne Schwartz, who owns Great Bay, a fishing supply store on Route 539, halfway between the school and the gunnery, said: "We were in shock when we heard about it. It's a good thing it wasn't in the day," when the school would have been full of children in the third to sixth grades.
Military officials said the F-16 pilot, whose identity was withheld, was turning into a strafing dive at 7,000 feet when the jet's left-side fuselage cannon fired a burst of nonexplosive lead shells. It was to have been fired at 5,000 feet, officials said later. The pilot flew back to his base in Maryland, apparently unaware that some slugs had hit the school.
Four custodians were in the one-story brick building as eight shells hit, driving holes in the roof and causing damage in a few classrooms, a hallway and an office. Five slugs were found in the parking lot, and 12 to 14 more were not accounted for, officials said.
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Lawchic
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Lawchic
Post Number: 106
Registered: 10-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 02:44 pm: |
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I've seen this before. Unfortunately, as someone who has lived regularly on military installations where there is a significant amount of training, I can attest there are a number of training accidents every year. Usually the damage is confined to the installation, but there have been a number of military and civilian deaths both on and off the installations.
Hopefully, this is not some nut job of a pilot, but an unfortunate error not soon to be repeated. It would be wonderful if they didn't have to train near populated areas, but that is something that many communities (not just this one in NJ) have to deal with. When I lived in Camp Lejeune, NC and Camp Pendleton, CA, the Navy would practice shooting ordnance from ships to targets on the ground aboard the bases. Artillery units practice lobbing mortars almost daily and helos and jets fly overhead loaded with practice bombs and cannons similar to the ones on the jet in NJ. Needless to say, a targeting error could bring a bomb down in the middle of a housing area. There have been times when my house has shaken so hard you'd think it was about to come off the foundation. You know the impact is closer than it should be, you just send up a prayer they get better aim the next time. |
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