Snowcaves can save!
A moment of silence please to morn for those in Chilean military who passed away due negligent, piss poor leadership and lack of training .................................
Pickle Meadows is one of the three training grounds for the Marines for such extreme weather. The center is cited at 6,762 feet, with elevations in the training areas ranging to just under 12,000 feet. During the winter season (October - April) snow accumulation can rear 6 to 8 feet. Further, severe storms can deposit as much as four feet in a 12 hour period. In a galaxy far, far away, I was with 1st Bn 4th Marines stationed in the Stumps (29 Palms) and trained several times in Pickle Meadow region. I remember one storm that was worse than the Instructors had anticipated and ended up in two man snow caves for several hours! It truly saved our bacon!
So why would they not train the
Next time you hear that the
posted by Fundy @ 7:01 AM
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2 Comments:
Were you with us at Puuhakalua Training Area on the Big Island when Lt. Whitehead, idiot that he was, decided to take the '81's NCO's on a hike from the PTA base camp to the top of Mauna Kea? We were in jungle boots and lightweight rip-stop cammies, (or rip-starts, as I preferred to call them). And it was February. Apparently, it never occured to Mr. Shiny Bar that it would be snowing at 12,000 feet during the winter--even in Hawaii. We got to the top of the mountain, soaking wet in our own sweat, and were faced with a five mile hike in freezing weather, stumbling across a snow-covered crater to reach the observatory. Upon reaching such point, we discovered that the observatory was on top of a 200-foot tall cindercone, which could only be accessed by a slushy macadam road.
Along the way, we passed astronomers from the observatory walking about in full parkas. Civilians in heated automobiles drove past us on the observatory road, gazing upon us as if we were some sort of carnival act.
When we finally reached the top, Captain Leipold came screaming up in a HMMWV, and personally served us warm coffee and cocoa, obviously terrified an NCO (or several) in his command was going to drop dead of hypothermia. Whitehead received a rather firm (and none-too-private) on-the-spot "counseling" session from Leipold, as I remember.
Being a mustang, you'd have thought Whitehead had better sense. But then, he was always trying to impress Leipold, who was a true hard-charger and highly intelligent to boot. The harder he tried, the less the Captain was impressed with him. I guess he had to get a lobotomy when he traded in those stripes for the shiny objects. Which, all modesty aside, is why Leipold sent me to the Fire Support Coordination school instead of Whitehead, since the man was clearly incapable of performing the job.
I always did like Leipold; he was the epitome of the "hard but fair" Marine commander. I heard he made major, but had little chance at the window for light bird. If true, that's a pity; the Corps lost a man who would have been one of their best infantry battalion commanders.
Yes, I remember that day all too well! I think someone had asked us (Dragons Platoon) if we wanted to come along. My first thought was, are you crazy walking up the side of the mountain to see a dome that held an oversized telescope!
With the 26 mile hump to the ocean looming in the near future, I did not want to end up with some minor aliment that would cause any undo discomfort, not that I am saying humping a combat load 26 miles in 8 hours is comfortable. But after spending some much time humping around Parker Ranch just wanted make sure that I got libo for that weekend.
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