121
submitted 1 month ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 month ago

Is anyone replying in this thread a US military armorer? I'd love to know who gave him the weapon with the sight installed backwards. I was never allowed to touch an installed optic other than to sight it in. I was never in the US Navy, but in all my training I never got a class on anything but an iron sight for the M16, M4, and M9. How would someone who isn't a master at arms and probably qualifies on a weapon once, maybe twice a year going to know that someone else installed the sight on his weapon backwards? You don't even know that it was his issued weapon and not someone else's who also shot with it backwards.

[-] asmoranomar@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

All valid concerns, but the fact is if you accept the weapon and anything happens, you are at fault.

We've had people get issued, and immediately, check and clear their weapon in the presence of an armorer in the bucket, and get in trouble for it misfiring, despite the fact that it should have been checked and cleared prior to change of hands and in addition to the fact that you hadn't been issued ammo yet. It's dumb, but people die over this, so they are very strict, even when it sometimes seems unnecessary.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

Nothing happened, and nothing could have happened other than him missing a practice target by a mile. It doesn't even show him aiming at something in particular, just looking down the barrel. Ammo can kill you, not having a working optic is not a safety issue no matter what direction it's installed. Did he check the chamber to see if there was a round? Did he flag any other sailors? Did he keep his weapon pointed down range? Every single person around him let him shoot the weapon like that, they obviously didn't feel too unsafe to be around him. None of them even seemed to noticed it was on backwards either. How can you tell it's backwards from this picture of him?

[-] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

He wasn't dishonorably discharged or court Marshalled (idk how to spell that). He was just replaced. I want to think the reasons you listed played into that decision and why he didn't recieve further disciplinary consequences.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

They as good as ended his career with that. You don't think every sailor hasn't already heard or will hear at his next command that he is so ignorant he can't even fire a rifle right? If he's that incompetent they shouldn't have let it get so far that he got a command in the first place. He's either so incompetent that he can't do basic sailors tasks OR they made up a reason to fire a sailor who made a non critical mistake. Do we publicize IN PRINT when an army infantry NCO has a negligent discharge at clearing barrel? Maybe locally, but it doesn't mean he is completely unfit to lead men to war.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

How would someone who isn't a master at arms and probably qualifies on a weapon once, maybe twice a year going to know that someone else installed the sight on his weapon backwards?

Well, in the photo he's looking through it. You ever look through a telescope or some binoculars backwards? Scope supposed to make things bigger, not smaller, good clue. And tbf he should know that.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

This is a staged photo and that mag looks full so he probably just pulled it up quickly on command and started firing. Which would also explain his bad stock placement. He rushed for this photo op because everyone likes to look like a bad ass especially when there are cameras around.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

I think the bad stock placement was more due to the terrible eye relief on a backwards LPVO lol.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Haha I think that could also be it.

[-] Hawk@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 1 month ago

Yep, but everyone is an expert right.

[-] teft@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

You never touched your optics? What service were you in? I constantly adjusted my ACOG and red dot while i was in the army in iraq.

He would know the instant he looked in the scope and everything was tiny.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

US Army Aviation and two deployments with the AF. I was never even issued an optic as we only had a handful per company. Can't touch what Uncle Sugar doesn't allocate. The only time I touched a weapon that wasn't a helicopter was during annual qualifications.

[-] teft@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Ah, that makes sense then. Combat arms you pretty much have to know as much about your optics as you do your rifle. Can't wait for an armorer when you're out in the willywacks and your shit is broken.

[-] Whiskey_iicarus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

Yep, and I agree an 11b or equivalent who doesn't know his ass from the front of the sight isn't fit for duty, but this guy is a naval officer and was probably just stoked to look cooler than normal, and someone could have just as easily been playing a joke on him to see if he would notice. We play pranks on people all the time asking for PRC-E7, or grid squares, or blinker fluid.

I doubt it's true it's the reason he was relieved of command, but to even think it was a last straw is crazy because if he was really that bad of a leader they wouldn't need to use something as trivial like just a funny picture to some among the gun owner's who know what they are even looking at.

I mean, at the very least, trying to use the scope would have immediately made it extremely obvious that it was backward. And he was looking straight down the scope.

He was either a moron who'd never shot ever in his life, or knew it was wrong and didn't care because he was just posing for a photo (but should have known people would know it was backwards and comment on it en masse, hurting the image of the Navy if only by "this looks stupid" by a chorus of a million armchair sharpshooters).

this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
121 points (98.4% liked)

News

23116 readers
3415 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS