The 4.2 inch mortars attached to my Maryland ARNG battalion (115th) had a recurring problem with the old ammunition they were using in the early and mid-1970s, rounds often left the tube and just dropped onto the ground as the mortar crew scattered as fast as they could.
Now that would suck. During my Artillery days, the closest event would be a misfire. Misfires were rare, but they certainly got your attention. (M198 155mm Howitzers)
We learned about short 60mm rounds one day at the K-Ranges at Camp LeJeune. In training the 0341 basic mortar men one day it was raining then raining hard. We had four (full) increments and had a target out about 800 meters (old amtrac hull) the rain got heavy and all manner of things went wierd. Like nothing was even close to the target which we knew like the back of our hands and ought to have dead on. As RSO and Chief of Weapons Instruction we suspended firing, before a couple of rounds were in the near vicinity of “danger close” we wore helmets and flak jackets for a reason, most of the time it seemed overkill….not that day!!
The 4.2 inch mortars attached to my Maryland ARNG battalion (115th) had a recurring problem with the old ammunition they were using in the early and mid-1970s, rounds often left the tube and just dropped onto the ground as the mortar crew scattered as fast as they could.
Now that would suck. During my Artillery days, the closest event would be a misfire. Misfires were rare, but they certainly got your attention. (M198 155mm Howitzers)
We learned about short 60mm rounds one day at the K-Ranges at Camp LeJeune. In training the 0341 basic mortar men one day it was raining then raining hard. We had four (full) increments and had a target out about 800 meters (old amtrac hull) the rain got heavy and all manner of things went wierd. Like nothing was even close to the target which we knew like the back of our hands and ought to have dead on. As RSO and Chief of Weapons Instruction we suspended firing, before a couple of rounds were in the near vicinity of “danger close” we wore helmets and flak jackets for a reason, most of the time it seemed overkill….not that day!!