Remember those \u201csafety briefings\u201d we all received while on active duty? You know, the one where the CO or 1SG told you not to jump in the swimming pool without checking to see if there was water in it first; not to try to drink all the beer in [insert name of nearby town here] ’cause you couldn’t do it; and the like?<\/p>\n
Yeah, we all rolled our eyes at some of that. But there\u2019s a very good reason why everything in those briefings was mentioned.<\/p>\n
Everything in them was mentioned because somewhere, at some point in time, some Dumme Schei\u00dfe<\/i> had done (or attempted) either exactly that or something very similar. <\/p>\n
But this next one IMO takes the cake. Earlier this month – on 1 May, to be precise – a soldier managed to fall into an active volcano. <\/p>\n
No, I\u2019m not kidding.<\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n On that date, a soldier assigned to Schofield Barracks was on the \u201cBig Island\u201d for a training exercise. Somehow he found himself in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, at a point on the Kilauea Caldera called the \u201cSteaming Bluff Overlook\u201d. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a permanent metal railing at that location to keep people away from the crater\u2019s edge. But apparently the guy really<\/u> wanted a closer look at the caldera. So he climbed over said permanent metal railing \u2013 and promptly fell into the crater<\/i>. <\/p>\n Luckily for him, the man \u201conly\u201d fell about 70 feet (the cliff where he fell is roughly 300 feet tall, but he landed on a ledge partway down). Though seriously injured, he was rescued and survived his injuries.<\/p>\n No word on whether he\u2019ll be court-martialed or not. Being a world-class dumbass isn\u2019t a specific crime under the UCMJ in and of itself. However, I seem to remember that actions not specifically defined as crimes elsewhere in the UCMJ but which are nonetheless sufficiently \u201cprejudicial to good order and discipline\u201d may violate Article 134. <\/p>\n Perhaps one of our lawyer commenters could offer an opinion regarding whether this level of dumbassery qualifies as sufficiently \u201cprejudicial to good order and discipline\u201d to be a crime under Article 134. If it doesn\u2019t . . . well, maybe it should.<\/p>\n Oh, and for what it\u2019s worth: the guy wasn\u2019t some young kid with little or no experience and delusions of invulnerability. He was 32 years old at the time of the incident.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Sheesh.<\/p>\n . . . <\/b><\/p>\n OK, enough tales of mental midgetry for today. Enjoy the WOT, everyone.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t go climbing over any metal railings, OK? (smile)<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n