Category: Army News

The Army has changed the immediate action drill for the M4A1 after a soldier found a malfunction in a converted M4A1 from an M4 carbine according to Military.com;

“The operator pulled the trigger with the selector switch between the semi and auto detents (outside of detent). The weapon did not fire when the operator pulled the trigger and instead fired when the selector was moved further,” according to the messages.

No one was injured in the incident. U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, or TACOM, issued Safety of Use messages in March and April to address the issue.

So, now the IAD reads;

TACOM has modified the traditional immediate action drill known as SPORTS to C-SPORTS, if the weapon does not fire when the trigger is pulled, message 18-005 states.

1. Confirm that the selector is set to semi, auto or burst.

2. Slap upward on the magazine to make sure it is properly seated.

3. Pull the charging handle completely to the rear and hold.

4. Observe for ejection of case or cartridge, and ensure the cartridge or case is ejected and the chamber is clear.

5. Release the charging handle to feed a new round.

6. Tap the forward assist to ensure the bolt is closed.

7. Squeeze the trigger; the weapon should fire.

Thanks to Stephen for the link.

Bobo sends us a link to the story of Lt. Col. Christopher DeMure, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment within the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

According to charging documents, DeMure’s scheme involved claims made to military insurer USAA Federal Savings Bank as well as American Express on at least seven separate occasions. In one incident, he allegedly claimed more than $215,000 in false losses from a U-Haul van he said was burglarized in July 2016 when he moved to JBER from Fort Benning, Ga.

DeMure filed forged documents from local police to bolster his claims;

In a Palmer case from last year, DeMure allegedly told local police a backpack containing an Apple iWatch and goods worth thousands of dollars was stolen from the parking lot of the Palmer Fred Meyer. After speaking with Palmer police officer Virginia Calvert, he allegedly submitted a fake Palmer police report written by an “Officer Z. Calvert” to American Express to document his claim – a report denied by the real Officer Calvert when investigators spoke with her.

He’s looking at 20 years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine.

Sergeant Clinton Scanlon and Sergeant Bryce Fox were offered an opportunity to attend the Marine Corps’ Scout Sniper Course, according to DVIDS, and the Army-trained snipers made an expected good showing, you know, given their level of expertise in the field;

Although the Soldiers had to adapt to the way Marine snipers operated, it didn’t stop them from being the best in the class.

“I scored the highest point average on the ten graded stalks we do,” said Fox. “Stalking is when you put grass, leaves and any natural vegetation around you on your body and then you sneak up [on a target] using individual movement techniques. You take a shot without being seen and then you shoot again. The [instructors] do a walking sequence to try and lock on you. If you don’t get found, you pass.”

Scanlon graduated the class as “high shooter” for scoring the best overall score on the rifle ranges.

“We did go through U.S. Army Sniper School so I think we definitely had a leg up on some of the fresh Marines right out of the fleet,” said Scanlon. “It was clear that everyone here knew what they were doing and the instructors were able to get the guys here shooting very well.”

Both soldiers enjoyed working alongside Marines and look forward to future opportunities to train together.

Stars & Stripes tells the story of Private Shamika Burrage who lost one of her ears in an automobile accident. The Army doctors at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, grew a new ear for her on her arm;

Doctors harvested cartilage from her ribs and carved an ear shape out of the cartilage. The cartilage was placed under the skin of her forearm to allow the ear to “grow.” Then the ear was attached to her head at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso.

“The whole goal is by the time she’s done with all this, it looks good, it’s sensate, and in five years if somebody doesn’t know her they won’t notice,” said Lt. Col. Owen Johnson III, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery for the medical center, in the Army statement…Epidermis from Burrage’s forearm will be used to cover scar tissue in the area around her left jawline, the statement said. Burrage, a supply clerk with 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, still has two surgeries left to go, but she says she’s optimistic.

Bobo sends us a link to Stars & Stripes which reports that Sergeant John Skipper of the 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade was sentenced for causing the destruction of three Humvees during an airborne landing in Hohenfels Training Area, Germany.

Sgt. John Skipper, 29, was found guilty at court martial in Vilseck, Germany, of destroying military property and giving a false official statement, according to a statement from the 7th Army Training Command, based in Grafenwoehr.

Skipper was sentenced by a military jury to a bad-conduct discharge and reduction in grade to E-1.

Skipper, a scout who had been assigned to assist the brigade’s Italy-based parachute riggers during the exercise, intentionally cut parachute straps on three Humvees included in the heavy drop during the exercise, the jury found.

We talked about Skipper last year when he was charged.

A sergeant first class heard laughing and cursing on a video of the Humvees falling from the sky was punished previously. The sergeant, an observer trainer coach assigned to the 7th ATC’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center, was given an administrative letter of reprimand.

ABC News 15 reports that Private Julian Diaz was killed in an accident at the National Training Center in California. Diaz was from Tolleson, Arizona, but assigned as a mortarman in 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington.

The News Tribune reports 19-year-old Pvt. Julian Diaz of Tolleson, Arizona, died in a vehicle crash at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. No further details about the crash were released.

Thanks to Tim for the link.

MCPO sends us a link to the news that Jessica Baeder, from Alabama, who was named last year as Miss America’s Outstanding Teen accepted an appointment at West Point.

Miss America’s Outstanding Teen announces that its national titleholder, Jessica Baeder, has accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. “In joining the Long Gray Line, I am honored to continue the military legacy of my father, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who all served in the military,” says Baeder. “This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl.”

Baeder was especially influenced by her father, Patrick, who was an Army Ranger and was serving with the much-celebrated 10th Mountain Division in New York when she was born. Her grandfather was a career soldier in the U.S. Army Special Forces and a founding member of the elite Delta Force unit, where he served for more than 35 years, with an additional decade of service with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Baeder, an 18-year-old honors student at Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama, will attend the Academy this fall for military leadership training and plans to pursue an engineering degree with an emphasis on biomedical sciences.

According to Stars & Stripes, an AH-64E Apache helicopter crashed at Fort Campbell claiming the lives of two soldiers;

The soldiers were flying a routine training mission in a training area on the base, when the Apache crashed at about 9:50 p.m., according to a base statement.

“This is a day of sadness for Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne,” Brig. Gen. Todd Royar, the acting senior commander of the 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell, said in the statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this difficult time.”

That makes seven deaths from military aircraft crashes in the last seven days.