PDA

View Full Version : So arty almost took us out this week...



Lupo22
01-13-10, 06:58 PM
Went to the field on Monday for a mortar shoot...first time to the field for me so I was pretty stoked. It was a great experience (minus the 15 degree temp's at night and trying to plot up points when its 25 and windy!) But I had a blast. Got to see some Hellfire rockets and some 20mm shoots when we were firing in support of air. That was impressive!! Moto as hell!

But the coolest, and scariest, part of the shoot was around 1900 on Monday when we had just gotten back in our tents to make some chow. My buddy and I were the last tent on the end and right as I was putting my MRE in its heater, we heard a loud whistle and a BOOOOOM!!! A 155mm round went off 200m or so from our position!! We all had to haul ass to get our PPE in case it was a fire for effect! Thank GOD no one was hurt because there was another unit adjacent to us that was just out of the blast range! Turns out the arty guys that were firing overhead shorted a round and landed about 2 miles before their target. Good training...gooooood training.

SGT7477
01-13-10, 07:01 PM
That happens, a short round, Semper Fidelis.

sparkie
01-13-10, 07:35 PM
Made in Tiawan,,,,,,, It happens. Someone is shaving the powder again. Happened to us at the stumps.

RYDERKUR
01-13-10, 08:12 PM
My question is why were you eating in your tent? With it that cold out, other critters need more food and get more daring too :p

kenrobg30
01-15-10, 07:21 AM
In February, 1951, 'Fox' Co 2/5 went out on a 'Find,and report patrol. Everything was fine, no sign of enemy troops, but we did find a river, that wasn't supposed to be there. The Company Co. called Battalion, to help him figure out where we were. After an hour of fumbling around, They discovered, that 'Fox' co. had the wrong maps, and the Co., didn't realize it, until we wereTen miles further out than we were supposed to be. While the map readers were trying to figure things out, we started getting incoming artillery.
We scrambled to find cover, and started digging fox holes. We got dug in, and those were the fastest dug holes I've ever seen dug. The Captain, called for counter battery fire. We couldn't hear our guns, but we heard the rounds coming, and they landed right in our laps. Firing at extreme range, they were hitting right in the middle of us. The Captain screamed into the radio, for them to cease fire, and I won't tell about his language. It was enough to shock a Marine! We were surrounded, by enemy troops, and it took seven days, with choppers, and a C-130 dropping us food and ammo, before the the Division, broke through to us. We were under artillery attack every day, by one side or the other.:usmc: S/F111 Ken

brian0351
01-15-10, 07:30 AM
In February, 1951, 'Fox' Co 2/5 went out on a 'Find,and report patrol. Everything was fine, no sign of enemy troops, but we did find a river, that wasn't supposed to be there. The Company Co. called Battalion, to help him figure out where we were. After an hour of fumbling around, They discovered, that 'Fox' co. had the wrong maps, and the Co., didn't realize it, until we wereTen miles further out than we were supposed to be. While the map readers were trying to figure things out, we started getting incoming artillery.
We scrambled to find cover, and started digging fox holes. We got dug in, and those were the fastest dug holes I've ever seen dug. The Captain, called for counter battery fire. We couldn't hear our guns, but we heard the rounds coming, and they landed right in our laps. Firing at extreme range, they were hitting right in the middle of us. The Captain screamed into the radio, for them to cease fire, and I won't tell about his language. It was enough to shock a Marine! We were surrounded, by enemy troops, and it took seven days, with choppers, and a C-130 dropping us food and ammo, before the the Division, broke through to us. We were under artillery attack every day, by one side or the other.:usmc: S/F111 Ken

*******...I got nothing that even remotely compares to this. Semper Fi Ken. I don't think I'll be complaining about the 2-3 rockets we get a week here! Lol. Thank you for sharing your story!

MLMonk
01-15-10, 09:47 AM
In February, 1951, 'Fox' Co 2/5 went out on a 'Find,and report patrol. Everything was fine, no sign of enemy troops, but we did find a river, that wasn't supposed to be there. The Company Co. called Battalion, to help him figure out where we were. After an hour of fumbling around, They discovered, that 'Fox' co. had the wrong maps, and the Co., didn't realize it, until we wereTen miles further out than we were supposed to be. While the map readers were trying to figure things out, we started getting incoming artillery.
We scrambled to find cover, and started digging fox holes. We got dug in, and those were the fastest dug holes I've ever seen dug. The Captain, called for counter battery fire. We couldn't hear our guns, but we heard the rounds coming, and they landed right in our laps. Firing at extreme range, they were hitting right in the middle of us. The Captain screamed into the radio, for them to cease fire, and I won't tell about his language. It was enough to shock a Marine! We were surrounded, by enemy troops, and it took seven days, with choppers, and a C-130 dropping us food and ammo, before the the Division, broke through to us. We were under artillery attack every day, by one side or the other.:usmc: S/F111 Ken

Remind me not to complain for when I go to Afghanistan in 3 months, lol. Semper Fi Ken, good thing none of you Marines were killed, at least I hope.

kenrobg30
01-15-10, 10:08 AM
*******...I got nothing that even remotely compares to this. Semper Fi Ken. I don't think I'll be complaining about the 2-3 rockets we get a week here! Lol. Thank you for sharing your story!
I didn't mean to downgrade your experience My friend. Any time our brothers are getting shot at, or shelled, It's not pleasant, and one incoming round, is always one too many. Every day, We all think about our BrothersandSisters, in harms way. That's what makes us what we are, Marines! :flag: S/F!! Ken

Zulu 36
01-15-10, 01:00 PM
Well, one positive aspect of that mess, now you know what incoming sounds like.

My father told me that while doing pre-Saipan workups during WWII, the infantry units were taken out to the artillery ranges and allowed to listed to different types of arty go over head. They even fired of some captured Japanese stuff.

But my father's unit, being Scout-Snipers, had a busy schedule and couldn't fit that little trip in. So he landed on Saipan between the 1st and 2d waves in the 6th Marines CO's boat, kind of ignorant of some things. The Japanese waited until the 2d wave landed before they started pasting the beaches.

Dad said he was laying the sand when he heard all of these weird noises overhead and wondered what they were, until the world exploded all around. He said the conversation in his mind kind of went, "What are all of those wei...........never mind." He was expecting the movie versions of shell fire.

The only shell fire he knew was the battleship fire, because he learned what that was on the boat ride in. The freight train sound followed by a funny ringing noise. The ringing noise was the compression ring following the shell after it came off shortly upon leaving the muzzle.

He also said it didn't take long to learn the sound of everything that went overhead as well as what they sounded like when exploding.

I remember this story, although when I went to Vietnam I was about as ignorant about these sounds as my father. In his defense, he didn't know what Soviet 107 and 122 mm rockets sounded like. I took the time to teach #1 daughter, however, and she has since reported they sounded exactly as I described them.

ggyoung
01-15-10, 01:24 PM
Back in the late 50's or early 60's 2ed 8 inch was out on a shoot at La June. One of the howitzers shout out and damn near blew up the front gate.There were a Lot of people that lost some rank about that.

kenrobg30
01-15-10, 02:23 PM
Remind me not to complain for when I go to Afghanistan in 3 months, lol. Semper Fi Ken, good thing none of you Marines were killed, at least I hope.

As I recall, Monk, we had several walking wounded, and five serious hits, who were taken out on Choppers. Those daredevils would come in, under small arms fire (small arms.....machineguns, 62mm mortars, rifles, a couple of 'Whiz-Bangs'), you know, small stuff. They'd drop off the food, or ammo they were carrying in their litters, take on two wounded men, and scat out of there, to make room for the next cowboy. The big guns tried to hit them too, but by the time they got their coordinates set, the chopper would be gone. The next one to come in was directed to another landing spot. Frustrated the hell out of those Gooks.:flag: Sempre Fi!!! Ken

Lupo22
01-15-10, 04:40 PM
I'm glad my post opened up to these stories! love reading that kind of stuff! Well, except the part where people actually get hit. That part, not so much.

The most luckiest part of my story was that it landed between two different platoons, and if it had hit us, it may have detonated our 350 HE and 150 Illum 80mm rounds we had laid out! That'd a been a nice bang.

ARTYPIG
01-15-10, 05:12 PM
All I can say is "To the rear of the Piece fall in" words us Arty guys hate to hear as that means someone F'ed up. Could've been that they put in a green bag instead of white, got the wrong powder increment, or wrong quadrant. It sucks, but it happens.

Kegler300
01-15-10, 05:24 PM
Bad bag of charge...

brian0351
01-16-10, 04:21 AM
Lol...I remember a time watching mortars fire. It was at SOI. The instructors were up on the firing line. All of a sudden we heard a "wet thump" on one of the guns. The Gunny in charge yelled "Short...

kenrobg30
01-16-10, 08:01 AM
Don't laugh at the Gunny Brian, learn from him. When he yelled, 'Short Round!' and ran, he expected every man in sight to do the same. You either run, or hit the deck, and pray. There isn't a hell of...

ggyoung
01-16-10, 10:47 AM
Don't laugh at the Gunny Brian, learn from him. When he yelled, 'Short Round!' and ran, he expected every man in sight to do the same. You either run, or hit the deck, and pray. There isn't a hell of a lot more you can do, and if he knocked the old folks down, It would have been to save their lives. The war you people are fighting is far different from the Those earlier wars. You have it tougher, in my opinion, than we did. We knew who our enemy was. Your enemy, might be standing right beside you. I admire the way you people for the way you handle that situation. It has to be damned tough, to look at some of those guys, and know, that tonight that bastard is going to be out there somewhere, burying an IED. Orders say you can't, but you want to. That's why us old Marines, are satisfied, that we've passed the baton, to worthy replacements :usmc: S/F!!!! Ken

kenrobg30 Well said

brian0351
01-16-10, 12:25 PM
Don't laugh at the Gunny Brian, learn from him. When he yelled, 'Short Round!' and ran, he expected every man in sight to do the same. You either run, or hit the deck, and pray. There isn't a hell of a lot more you can do, and if he knocked the old folks down, It would have been to save their lives. The war you people are fighting is far different from the Those earlier wars. You have it tougher, in my opinion, than we did. We knew who our enemy was. Your enemy, might be standing right beside you. I admire the way you people for the way you handle that situation. It has to be damned tough, to look at some of those guys, and know, that tonight that bastard is going to be out there somewhere, burying an IED. Orders say you can't, but you want to. That's why us old Marines, are satisfied, that we've passed the baton, to worthy replacements :usmc: S/F!!!! Ken

I appreciate your comment. The "new" way of fighting war is a study in frustration. Even when you identify your enemy you have to go through 5 levels of authorization in order to do anything about it!

And forget being a contractor out here...there are more rules than I care to comment on. Basically, the US military says I am allowed to carry a weapon to protect myself, but since the Iraqis haven't gotten the paperwork noting that we carry weapons, if I were to use my weapon and kill an Iraqi, I would be arrested by the Iraqi police!

kenrobg30
01-16-10, 04:18 PM
Well, one positive aspect of that mess, now you know what incoming sounds like.

My father told me that while doing pre-Saipan workups during WWII, the infantry units were taken out to the artillery ranges and allowed to listed to different types of arty go over head. They even fired of some captured Japanese stuff.

But my father's unit, being Scout-Snipers, had a busy schedule and couldn't fit that little trip in. So he landed on Saipan between the 1st and 2d waves in the 6th Marines CO's boat, kind of ignorant of some things. The Japanese waited until the 2d wave landed before they started pasting the beaches.

Dad said he was laying the sand when he heard all of these weird noises overhead and wondered what they were, until the world exploded all around. He said the conversation in his mind kind of went, "What are all of those wei...........never mind." He was expecting the movie versions of shell fire.

The only shell fire he knew was the battleship fire, because he learned what that was on the boat ride in. The freight train sound followed by a funny ringing noise. The ringing noise was the compression ring following the shell after it came off shortly upon leaving the muzzle.

He also said it didn't take long to learn the sound of everything that went overhead as well as what they sounded like when exploding.

I remember this story, although when I went to Vietnam I was about as ignorant about these sounds as my father. In his defense, he didn't know what Soviet 107 and 122 mm rockets sounded like. I took the time to teach #1 daughter, however, and she has since reported they sounded exactly as I described them.
Did you ever hear an incoming round from a .75mm Recoilless Rifle? Commonly known as a"Reckless Rifle? Try pursing your lips, and say PST_BANG, as fast as you can. You can't say it fast enough. If you hear that sound, it's way to late to duck, and there is no sense in ducking anyway, you're safe. If you didn't hear it, you're either on your way to the hospital, or the morgue. The people our Marines are fighting, have weapons that shoot that fast.Some times, my memory is to good.:flag: S/F!!! Ken

jerryk
01-16-10, 06:41 PM
well at a place at gio-linh in april of 67 in vietnam i was in a 105 howitzer battary we like to hear the out going but we had over 1,000 rounds one night from nva battarys from across the dmz ,it was not nice to hear that many comeing ini was scared that night

Lupo22
01-16-10, 10:41 PM
Don't laugh at the Gunny Brian, learn from him. When he yelled, 'Short Round!' and ran, he expected every man in sight to do the same. You either run, or hit the deck, and pray. There isn't a hell of a lot more you can do, and if he knocked the old folks down, It would have been to save their lives. The war you people are fighting is far different from the Those earlier wars. You have it tougher, in my opinion, than we did. We knew who our enemy was. Your enemy, might be standing right beside you. I admire the way you people for the way you handle that situation. It has to be damned tough, to look at some of those guys, and know, that tonight that bastard is going to be out there somewhere, burying an IED. Orders say you can't, but you want to. That's why us old Marines, are satisfied, that we've passed the baton, to worthy replacements :usmc: S/F!!!! Ken

Oorah Cpl!

kenrobg30
01-17-10, 06:30 AM
well at a place at gio-linh in april of 67 in vietnam i was in a 105 howitzer battary we like to hear the out going but we had over 1,000 rounds one night from nva battarys from across the dmz ,it was not nice to hear that many comeing ini was scared that night

Show me the guy who wasn't scared, so I can get the jell away from him! People who aren't scared, get themselves killed, and usually someone along side of them, who is smart enough to be scared, and to duck! :scared: S/F!!! Ken

bpeterson
01-17-10, 08:36 AM
I always enjoyed being in the safe area and hearing our arty going off but I never wanted to be on the incoming side of things.

Lupo22
01-17-10, 11:12 AM
I always enjoyed being in the safe area and hearing our arty going off but I never wanted to be on the incoming side of things.


Who does though??

echo3oscar1833
01-17-10, 11:35 AM
It happens dude, when I was out at the Stumps we got a little to close for comfort at times. One night we where out on the edge of a range with our AAV's, two Cobra Gunships came up over the horizion and ripped of some rounds right above us. :beer:

Troutzilla
01-17-10, 08:42 PM
December 5th 1969. Thua Thien Province Hai Van Pass area. 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, Hotel 2/26 was saddling up to move out on sweep of an area known as "The Hook" on the peninsula south of Hill 88 and East of FSB Los Banos. We were waiting on prep fire before moving into the area. It seems that someone at B Btry 1st Bn 13th Marines back on Los Banos wrote down our night POS coordinates and morning prep fire request basackwards...1 WP and 2 HE 105 rounds LANDED ON OUR POSITION !! 2 Marine Kia's .....2 Marine Wia's. It was just GOD AWFUL....jesus that still hurts ...I hate the 4th of July and Christmas.....that's all I have to say about that.

Semper Fi

:flag:

HurricaneRJ
01-17-10, 10:44 PM
"Friendly Fire isn't Friendly"
-Murphy's Rule to Combat.

We had a short WP 155mm land 200m in front of our SBF at Mojave Viper. I've never seen a field grade officer run away from Phosphorus so fast.:p

kenrobg30
01-18-10, 11:40 AM
I've got one, that will tighten your sphincter. 2/5, was in reserve, and we were living it up. Hot chow,showers, nice fresh utilities. I even got a new pair of Boondockers. I was walking back to from chow, headed for the CP area, which was set up behind a row of trees, not paying much attention to anything but my full belly. That row of trees, kinda blocked my view, so I couldn't see very far ahead. All of a sudden, This loud roar, hit me,and I made a dive for the deck, figuring this is my last day. Then, with the roar, three F-80 Sabre Jets, Flashed by, and I'll swear, they weren't more than 20ft above those trees. Scared the hell out of me, and as I raised my head to look, I saw the Col. The Exec. and a whole bunch of Marines, getting up and dusting themselves off. Those were AirForce Jets, and the flight Leader was a Major, who had been with us for a month, as FO officer.He was a nice guy, aqnd everybody liked him, because he liked to clown around. He called the Col,. on the landline, and told him that he led that flight, and just thought he'd say hello, on his way baqck from his mission. The Co0l. told him , the next time he got near us, on the ground, he'd better have a case of Canadian Club in his hands, for the Officers, and a truck load of Uncle Joe Schlitz, for the troops. That after-burner run, scared the crap out of the whole Battalion! :scared: S/F!!!! Ken

HOWARDROARK3043
09-03-10, 05:40 PM
splash out

AlohaMarine
09-04-10, 10:18 PM
Arty ****es me off. I'm always trying to sleep in my heated little tent to keep from freezing to death, and as soon as I get nice and comfy a firing battery moves in about 1 click away, firing directly overhead to the impact area.

I hate gun bunnies.

ARTYPIG
09-05-10, 12:52 AM
Pound sand Aloha! We love depriving everyone else of sleep. If we're upi. Your up!