Thursday, November 04, 2004
LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. — A National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a nighttime training mission strafed an elementary school with 25 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Thursday. No one was injured.

The military is investigating the incident that damaged Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School in southern New Jersey shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. The school is a few miles from a military firing range.

Police were called when a custodian who was the only person in the school heard what sounded like someone running across the roof.

Police Chief Mark Siino said officers noticed punctures in the roof. Ceiling tiles had fallen into classrooms, and there were scratch marks in the asphalt outside.

The pilot of the single-seat jet was supposed to fire at a ground target on the firing range three and half miles from the school, said Col. Brian Webster, commander of the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, which is responsible for the range. He did not know what led to the school getting shot up.

The plane was 7,000 feet in the air when the shots were fired. The gun, an M61-A1 Vulcan cannon, is located in the plane's left wing. It fires 2-inch-long bullets that are made of lead and do not explode, said Webster.


"The National Guard takes this situation very seriously," said Lt. Col. Roberta Niedt, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. "The safety of our people and the surrounding communities are our foremost concern."

The jet that fired the rounds was assigned to the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The plane returned there after firing the shots, Webster said.

He would not identify the pilot or detail possible disciplinary measures.

Mike Dupuis, president of the township's Board of Education, said school workers are mindful that the firing range is nearby.

"Being so close to the range, that's always in the back of our minds. It is very scary. I have children in that school and relatives that work there," he said.

Schools in New Jersey were closed Thursday because of a teachers convention.

The 2,400-acre Warren Grove range, about 30 miles north of Atlantic City, has been used by the military since the end of World War II, long before the surrounding area was developed.

In 2002, an Air National Guard F-16 that had been practicing attacks at the range crashed along the Garden State Parkway. The plane's pilot ejected safely, and no one on the ground was hurt.

Errant practice bombs were blamed for forest fires that burned more than 11,000 acres of the Pine Barrens near the range in 1999 and more than 1,600 acres in 2002.

Maybe Michael Moore was at the controls and thought President Bush might be there reading to kids,,,,seriously, I'm glad it was late and nobody was seriously hurt :-\\

Who was flying that thing anyway...Lt. Col Tony Soprano???

  Yeah, I'm glad nobody was hurt, too...

  School's set to reopen...



Maybe Michael Moore was at the controls and thought President Bush might be there reading to kids



  Yeah, quite possibly, but it could've been Monica Lewinski at the controls thinking that Linda Tripp might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been John Kerry at the controls thinking that Ralph Nader might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been Tucker Carlson at the controls thinking Jon Stewart might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been Batman at the controls thinking the Joker might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been some angry guy at the controls thinking the guy who just dinged his passenger-side door in the parking lot the local Save-A-Bunch might be in there reading to the kids...blah, blah, blah...

 
 

   Yeah, I'm glad nobody was hurt, too...

   School's set to reopen...





   Yeah, quite possibly, but it could've been Monica Lewinski at the controls thinking that Linda Tripp might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been John Kerry at the controls thinking that Ralph Nader might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been Tucker Carlson at the controls thinking Jon Stewart might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been Batman at the controls thinking the Joker might be there reading to the kids, or it could've been some angry guy at the controls thinking the guy who just dinged his passenger-side door in the parking lot the local Save-A-Bunch might be in there reading to the kids...blah, blah, blah...

   
   
Keep that sense of humor...it's critical ;)

Keep that sense of humor...it's critical ;)


  You betcha..!

Or maybe it was bushie finishing his flight training so the he could claim that yes, indeed,
he did discharge his duty in the National guard. :) ;)

Or maybe it was bushie finishing his flight training so the he could claim that yes, indeed,
he did discharge his duty in the National guard. :) ;)


^ The Winner! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Diane Feinstein and John Kerry issued the following press release on this incident:

"We now have seen one of the first, yet predictable, results of the lifting of the assault weapons ban (AWB).  The F-16 in question was indeed an assault weapon that would have still been illegal under the AWB.  What, with its multiple-round magazine, automatic/semiautomatic operation, and flash suppressor.  Reports have just been coming in that indicate that this aircraft also was brandishing a nose-mounted bayonet, another feature banned under the now-extinct AWB.  When Congress returns to session, we will jointly reintroduce the AWB, with provisions to further strengthen it such as prohibitions of the F-16 itself, and prohibition of airplanes carrying bayonet mounts on their nose cones."

;D ;D

Oops...

I wonder which school the pilot went to, and how happy a time he had there...

Same school that dosen't teach you to take off and land no doubt... ::)

Stupid jerks. I'm happy nobody was hurt ::)

This story is quite frightening to Canadians since in Afghanistan...yes we are fighting there with the Americans, a couple of high on amphetamine Nation Guard flyers dropped bombs on a squad of Canadian soldiers killing for and wounding many others.

It seems the Air National Guard quietly condones the use of speed which has some disasterous results when combined with F-16s.

This story is quite frightening to Canadians since in Afghanistan...yes we are fighting there with the Americans, a couple of high on amphetamine Nation Guard flyers dropped bombs on a squad of Canadian soldiers killing for and wounding many others.

It seems the Air National Guard quietly condones the use of speed which has some disasterous results when combined with F-16s.

US 'friendly fire' is a standing joke in the UK, although this is the first time I've heard of the USAF practising it on their home ground. Perhaps the pilot has misinterpreted the saying 'the best form of defence is attack', although if this is the sort of defence Homeland Security has in mind, lord help the rest of us (and the UK troops backing the US in Iraq...)  ;D
As for USAF encouraging pilots to use amphetamines, I don't think this is kept particularily quiet. I've seen documentaries in the UK stating around 60% of US fighter pilots were on amphetamines at any one time during Bushoil Gulf War II operations; it's well known that amphetamines fight fatigue, but their affects on concentration are less clear- reaction time is speeded up, but accuracy in tasks is reduced. If the USAF consider their airborne manpower levels to be more important than the clarity of their pilots' judgement, which appears to be the case, it's easy to see how such incidents happen...

What are they trying to do?  Turn "No child left behind" into "No child left, period."
:o :o :o

What are they trying to do?  Turn "No child left behind" into "No child left, period."
:o :o :o


Heh heh... Good one, Maxwell.  ;D

I thought that was kind of funny, too :)