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Subscribe to RSSTen New Jersey Army National Guard soldiers were treated after being struck by lightning Tuesday evening at Fort Drum in northern New York.
The incident happened around 9 p.m. in one of the Army post training areas. Six soldiers were treated and returned to duty, while four were still under the care of unit medics Wednesday morning but are expected to resume their duties.
The soldiers were part of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team based in Lawrenceville, N.J., unit spokesperson 1st Sgt. David Moore told NBC News.
Moore said he was not sure what kind of training the unit had been conducting at the time or how long they had been out there.
The brigade arrived at Fort Drum on Aug. 8 for an annual 15-day training exercise. Moore said the unit would not release the names of the soldiers injured.
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The brigade is composed of 2,000 soldiers from all 21 counties in New Jersey.
Fort Drum is home to the 10th Mountain Division.
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Leave a Comment:
Jihadist lightning. Must be a sign from Allah (sarcasm)
Must has been flag pole installation training......
You are supposed to suspend all training at the first sight or sound of lightning/thunder. Standard SOP.
They have regulations that you are supposed to follow in the military?
It's just lightning. I mean you get the kids out of the pool at the YMCA when there is lightning, but they are kids. Soldiers are tough.
Sam-1938777 - Your sense of humor is not funny!!! These are the lives of 10 of our FINEST young men. If you have never been close to lightening, you don't know what you speak of. These young men are training to protect your way of life. If you have nothing good to say about them, keep your ignorant mouth shut.
He can say whatever he wants, that's kinda the whole thing about being an American.
@GoldfishTheDestroyer I hope that is just your perverted sense of humor coming thru. I mean,you're not really that rageingly stupid,are you?
I was being sarcastic. The military is notorious for being regimented. Lives depend on that regiment. A lot of the rules you follow in the military are written in blood. For instance, a gunnery tech who works with guns, small arms or large guns on battleships a lot of the rules they follow were written because failure to follow those laws resulted in deaths in the past. You can't disregard all rules. Some rules are fairly unimportant, other rules, when you fail to follow them result in death.
It's important to know the difference between two kinds of rules.
I am mystified that whoever was in charge of these guys failed to follow the rules to stop training during a dangerous electrical storm in an association as regimented as the US military.
It's on the same level as failing to keep a loaded firearm on a military shooting range pointed down range. It's something you never see, even from the most unintelligent people with no attention to detail. Basically you see complete idiots on a live firing range act like they have some intelligence about them.
@GoldfishTheDestroyer... training had been suspended in anticipation of the storm, and the soldiers were retired to their tents for the evening. The lightening hit one of the tents that the soldiers were in. All very innocent.
Perhaps if the article had listed training had been suspended and the soldiers were retired to their tents all these dumb as remarks would'nt be made.
Just a guess because the article didn't say.....
maybe 10 were injured because they were seeking shelter "under something"....hopefully not a tree. Only an officer would do that.
If they were in the open probly wouln't have gotten that many. Either that or it was cluster bomb lightning.
Training does not necessarily stop because of a storm. When you have a large unit in the field it would be logistically impossible to withdraw. The only time that training stops (modified) is during basic training. With actual troops the leadership does a risk assessment and the Commander determines what are the best courses of action. Typically in a situation like this you attempt to get to shelter (tent) and hunker down until range control gives the clear signal however you do not pull Soldiers from the field. But in the end it is still up to the Commander what course of action to take.
Fred Phelps did it. "God hates soldiers!"
God has soldiers. You don't really want to meet them either. Satan thought he could beat them, go ask him what happened, but he will only lie to you. Kind of like Obama. Hey you brought up God.
Why does an omnipotent being have soldiers? Seems rather silly...
The Spaghetti Monster has some vicious meatballs. You wouldn't want beef with them, just like you wouldn't want beef with Obama. You brought up Obama.
Perhaps this was an attack by a Higher Power against the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. AKA : US military
Pentagram.... Penta gone
?Que? Not sure what you mean, brew. US Military attacking the Almighty Spaghetti Monster? Doubt it. They still cant even take out Slender Man. Did you mean Pentagon? Pentagram? Im PentaLost....Pentalones
What did they all do. Rest at the flag pole.
No, that is what happens when you don't listen to your non-commissioned officers.
There had better not be a next time, because they won't like where the lightening will strike them.
Now repeat after me, "I will always listen to my CPO, my CPO is always right, my CPO is God......."
Nav-399861, Your an a$$. These young men were training in the field. Have you ever been in the military? That means you train in all kinds of weather. Yes, precautions are taken to make sure they are safe but storms do come up in a hurry. Take your smart mouth and park it!!!!!!
Geez Okie, take a pill and relax.
And yes, I served.
LOL, found that out in Navy boot, CPO Always listen to the non-coms/PO's.......
Oh crap, Zeus is pissed.
It would have been absolutely ironic if they were from the 25th Infantry Division, based in Hawaii. They are known as "Tropic Lightning."
But since they were not, so what?
HOW did they all get hit. Were they standing on a metal platform that got hit so they all got zapped.. were they playing on the flagpole.... HOW did they all get hit.. One ok but a bunch of them... HMM sounds like the reporter isnt doing a thorough job
Maybe you should think about this for a minute. Lightening hits the ground which conducts it across the surrounding area, hitting the soldiers and exiting either back into the ground or out some other part of the body. Nothing about a flag pole or any other metal object.
It's simple, lightening hit wet ground which conducts the electrical charge of the lightening bolt to the soldiers. I was sitting in our farm house in Ohio when a lightening bolt hit about half a mile away, and we felt the electric from it inside our house.
The only mention of a flag pole was in the comments section by SAM1938777 in a lame effort to display his 3rd grade sense of humor. If the ground is wet,which it usually is during a thunderstorm, and the lightning strikes near by, even if it hits a tree rather than the ground, it pretty much has the same effect of someone dropping a plugged in radio into a bathtub full of water while you are standing in it. Maybe not so extreme but I'm just using that as an extreme example that most of the idiots in here will be able to understand. Okay?
Well this was an informative interlude.
they were just playing soldier, like they do all day - it's what soldiers do because they aren't allowed to do other stuff - like THINK - you know, standing around & waiting on some retarded NCO to make up his (their) mind about what to do & then BANG! - a bunch of lit-up soldiers - happens all the time
It doesn't mention if they were warned about the possibility in ligttning in the area. I hope some ate-up NCO didn't order them to stay in the area when they should have left.
You are a bunch of Morons, at least they are there working and not blogging all day, I was reading the article because my son is in the area training.
The 1SG didn't know what training they were conducting?
It's 1st. Sgt. knucklehead.
I was wondering the same thing.... How in the hell does the 1SG not know what training is conducted and how long they had been out there. Something about that just don't make any sense to me. I can see a 15-6 coming his way and probably wont be the 1SG for long... if in fact he still is!
Actually I think the 1SG did the right thing, he probably knew what "kind" of training was going on but elected to NOT discuss it with the media or give out names of those involved. Its that kind of sensless airing of information that allows other non-friendly parties to learn about our abilities, manpower, training focus and worst of all possible weaknesses. The same goes for those niave family members who unfortunately want to celebrate their loved ones accomplisments on facebook and the like but they dont realize just what kind of easy intel they are putting out there for others to gather and use against us. Last, to those who question the training in the weather, I spent a lot of time there at Fort Drum, in the heat/humidity and in 3ft of snow, training and working thru what the elements threw at us. If they were in a tent like was mentioned then that was probably the best "available" protection for them at the time. A bad lightening storm up there can be dangerous no matter what you are in and mainy of the new tents are aluminum framed for light weight transport and easy/quick install. Hope they all make it thru without permanant injuries and continue to proudly serve our country to protect the millions that didnt have the courage to raise their hand and STEP UP!!
Now remember this is a guard unit and they only get together once a year to train and they come from all over their state...my son just got out of active duty in Jan and joined the guard, said it was the worst decision he ever made...didn't meet his 1st Sgt until last month, he joined in Feb. Half the unit can't make PT, the other half, well they don't know their @!$%#s from a hole in the wall...just saying!!!
Air Force Vet
Commanding officer told them to move so fast he wanted to see lightning shooting from there asses looks like it did.
Umm I Call B.S. ON the Top Not knowing what kinda of training they were Doing, Every First Sgt KNows where there soldiers are and what there Doing, and there is no Such Thing as a 1st Sgt that is just a Spokesman. You only Carry the rank of Fisrt Sgt when you are in Charge after that you either move up the ladder ot stay as a master Sgt. I know because i was in the Military for 8 1/2 years before an Automobile accident took me out of the Service, and i had my fair share of 1st Sgts
Robert, do you think the 1st Sgt actually TOLD YOU everything he knew? Sometimes it is best to not disclose everything in the interest of keeping things away from those who would use it against us. Maybe he did know, but just wasn't telling. It happens, you know.
Maybe this 1SGT wasn't informed yet what that day's training entailed. He would know overal training objectives, but the ones leading the troops on the ground are the ones that know what specifically they were training on when the bolt hit.
Perhaps the 1st Sgt. didn't want to disclose to the reporter the unit was using a new cloaking device and that was why only ten were injured. Thankfully, they will all fully recover....except for the memory.
They are all camped out for annual training. They were not outside, the lightning hit their tent. My son said it was a nasty storm.
I'm just going to pray for a speedy recovery and no lasting adverse affects. I don't have to know what they were doing. They were preparing for war. Godspeed for all of them in their recovery and God bless them all.
lela
ft drum when i was there (1972) was called camp which means a temporary facility and it has been upgraded to a fort. it was a place for fun and frolic as no one in the guard or reserves were called up even thought Vietnam was still going on. happeneing at 9 pm my guess was they were not where they were suppose to be that they didn't give out names or what they were doing leads me to ASSUME the guard is trying to cover up.
You people are so #$%$## Soliders do not stop training because of bad weather. Nor can anyone predict when and where lighting will strike.
kcjun58
you are suppose to suspend training any time there is lightning unless it's a drop and evade exercise
when i wasthere it was camp drum i didn't any lighting there th ewho four or five month i stay there for the sopport unit .
Unfortunately, even the US Army cannot (yet) control the weather, regardless of what Hugo Chaves says.
I was stationed at ft. gordon in Augusta, Ga summer of '85 for my AIT training towards my MOS. We went out in the woods for 1 week and there was a nasty storm and I was laying on my cot which was at the edge of our tent where pools of water had formed, all I remember was a loud crack, and me suddenly going from prone position to 6ft. in the air screaming in a strange voice thinking I was going to die My boot was smoking freshly polished black kiwi). I believe 5 or 6 of us went to the post hospital that day. needless to say lightning scares the s*** out of me to this day.
Must be Bush's fault, like everything else according to Obama and Biden
Wasting American lives on the Iraq war to profit that dick, Cheney's companies was "Lil" gw bush-League's fault. The 9/11 attack was "Lil" gw bush-League's fault. The economic collapse of the United States was "Lil" gw bush-League's fault. But understand, oh right wing NUT, that when I say "Lil" gw bush-League I mean his stinking hypocrite Republican party, not some moron named "Lil" gw bush-League!
WHAT?
Lightening has an E in it morons!
Hey Jeep chica, I'm gonna call BS on you. Yes, "lightening" is a word, but not the correct spelling in this story. Your lightening means to make lighter (as in color or shade). Lightning is the correct spelling for this story.
Only if you are doing your hair.
Yes CheapChica press on with another post, this issue is above your brain power!!!
To the Hammer - I can relate to what you are saying. I was doing training on a fire truck, and we were just about done when it started to lightly sprinkle. We were rolling up the hose on the electric hose reel when lightning hit the truck and came thru 4 of us to the ground. My hand was directly on the aluminum body of the truck and I took the brunt of the hit. It threw me about 6 feet and in that instant I thought death was certain. I can tell you it was the single most painful experience of my life. And just like a lot of the comments here - people love to make jokes about it - I often get made fun of for it, which I dont really get, but whatever. (for the guys that got hit - most likely the pain that is still residual in your limbs WILL go away - and if you are sruggling to complete sentances, or are stuttering a bit, that will go away too. At least, that was my experience).
Th-th-thanks for ssharring thhhat SPARKEY! :)
Glad you survived.
haha and there it is! it was more of a stammer then a stutter. was actually difficult to speak a full sentence for the first few days. Also, as for the comments about never having to worry about getting hit again, since lightning never strikes twice - wrong! it struck my house and while doing another training a few months later it struck the fire house (this time was in Nicarauga, first time was in Panama). Sparky is by far the most common joke I hear...
"Press your lips to the ground and whisper to mama earth, and tell her for all it's worth, you love her and your're sorry for all the things your brothers' done...RUN!"
Must be God's way of punishing the hypocrites who fight and kill for His Name.
Nice Shot Sir!!! Might I suggest, next time, aim a little more to the left.
Well none of them have to ever worry about being struck by lightning again. Lightning never strike twice in the same place!
When struck, the soldiers were testing a new top secret key weapon system delivered by kite. It is called the "Franklin".