The fall-out (pun indented) from the weekend’s live fire by Marine howitzers over I-5 into Camp Pendleton during Vance’s visit is still falling. (The fallout even reached DC, see The Hill here.)
Yesterday’s (Tuesday, Oct. 21) main headline at the LA Times spoke out: “How military’s live fire over I-5 went awry”.
Here’s a few points the article made:
- At first when Federal officials first announced the live fire last week, they insisted it would be done with “all safety precautions in place” and said no public highways would be closed.
- Then California officials expressed fears about the live rounds being fired over I- 5.
- On Friday, Oct. 17 – the day before the No Kings Day — the Marines did a test run, and fired live rounds over I-5 while motorists drove on the freeway.
- Early Saturday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the closure that day of a 17-mile stretch of the interstate — from just south of San Clemente to just north of Oceanside — during the event.
- During the live fire, a CHP cruiser parked on an onramp of Interstate 5 was hit by falling shrapnel after an artillery round exploded midair. Obviously, way before it was supposed to. A CHP officer heard what sounded like falling pebbles hit his bike and the ground.
- This incident forced “an early end to the artillery demonstration. Upon learning of the midair explosion, the Marines canceled the remaining 55 rounds they’d planned to fire.
- The artillery round that exploded prematurely came from the first volley fired from M777 howitzers at Red Beach. A Marine spokesperson said although one round detonated in midflight, the four remaining rounds in that volley hit their intended target at the base.
- The Marine Corps is investigating the incident.
- The LA Times reported that the Marine Corps has said that shells from M777 artillery pieces have been fired over Interstate 5 previously without the need to close the route.
- The Marine Corps hasn’t yet answered questions on when, or how often, that has happened.
- A source told The Times that artillery such as the M777 howitzer isn’t fired at Camp Pendleton very frequently, and firing it over the freeway is extremely rare. In fact, none of Camp Pendleton’s artillery firing areas are along the beaches west of Interstate 5, according to maps of the Marine Corps base.
- Newsom on X accused President Trump and Vance of putting “lives at risk to put on a show.” “This could have killed someone,” he said.
As an aside, this writer has lived in Southern California most of my long life and I have never, ever heard of any such firing over I-5 from the beaches into Camp Pendleton.
And today, from the San Diego Union-Tribune, we learn, that even though Marines said they sometimes fire over the freeway, California state officials could find no previous notifications of such activity at any time in the past.
An official with the California State Transportation Agency said in an email Tuesday that the organization “is unaware of any previous live-fire demonstration that included firing weapons over a state freeway.”
Firing from Pendleton’s miles of training beaches is not listed among the approved sites in the set of rules that strictly govern all types of live fire on base.
Pendleton’s Range and Training Area Standing Operating Procedures, revised in 2022 and posted on Pendleton’s public website, list the precise coordinates for 53 pre-approved artillery firing areas associated with the base, including several that appear to be at sea. None are west of I-5.
Lots of questions remain. Why was the Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebrated on October 18, the same day as the massive, national No Kings Day events? The actual anniversary is not until almost mid-November.
Why was such an unusual and dangerous event held in the first place? Was it just another spectacle to make Trump, Vance & Co look strong? Manly? Was it really just more political theater where the White House continues to use our military as simply props in their PR stunts?
Good questions, Frank, though mostly rhetorical, of course. This administration obviously loves a military backdrop/distraction, no matter the costs in $$, risk, and damage. Thanks for keeping on top of all of the details and treating this as a continuing story, not just a flash-in-the-pan headline.
During 2010 and 2011 I was driving to LA almost every week due to a family situation and I did experience driving up I-5 while artillery fire was occurring, but it was on the east side of the highway and directed inland, not over the freeway. In my 50+ years of driving up and down I-5, I have seen marine activity on the beach near the Las Plugas off-ramp many times, but never involving 155mm howitzers.
Of course, this was political theater. They filmed the whole thing so they could show it on the actual birthday next month.