SO you know - It is HOT in the desert - running 2 miles gets you sweaty..anyway -

So there we were at the crew served weapons range - yes again...and we were getting a period of instruction on these new nifty "Escalation of Force" items called a "pen flare" - actually these things aren't really new at all - they have been an NSN item for years and used by AF and Navy aviators in allied forces for years - they are basically a 9mm zip gun that fires a phosphorous flare about 2-300 meters - we use them to warn off the LNs from approaching our element so as to reduce the need to fire actual warning shots form one of our more lethal systems-

So, no shit - there we were...

Everyone was practising with our pen flares - launching them with great vigor at the targets out on the range - having a grand time...wait - let us return to the morning...fade to squiggly screen flashback effect -

So here I am - the 1SG of a combat unit - berating the Platoon Sergeants for allowing certain mutant Soldiers to wear proper winter gear, to include long sleeve silk weight thermal shirts, winter gloves and fleece caps under their combat gear when it is 100+ degrees outside - I let them know that the commander would pursue NJP against anyone who sustained a heat injury while wearing that nonsense - Winter gear under body armor and helmets?!?! Are you serious?

Back to the future -

There we are popping off flares and giggling like school girls when a soldier wearing a fleece cap under his ACH, a thermal shirt under his uniform and WINTER WIEGHT GLOVES (which he later claimed to the the primary culprit for his clumsy handling of the flare) fiddle phucs a pen flare, flagging the whole unit and launching it straight into the crowd...fortunately no one was injured as the flare embedded itself harmlessly into the desert floor, but damn! Of course prior to this incident I was quite sure that this particular soldier is yet another idiot savant - certifiably so...window licking bastard.

Posted by: Misha Moriarti at 12:14 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 372 words, total size 2 kb.