troung

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/Art...215663,00.html

Trend: Soldiers playing with guns

IDF concerned about growing phenomenon; army source says 'soldiers who play with guns are offenders'
Hanan Greenberg

Disturbing trend: IDF soldiers engage in games involving rifles at least once a week, new data released by the Military Prosecutor showed.

Although unofficial, the report sends warning signals to the government to tackle an old problem that exacerbated in 2005.
“These are serious incidents. Only by miracle no one was hurt and the incidents did not make headlines. It is clear that it is only a matter of time before the bullet hits the head of soldier instead of a door,” a source at the Military Prosecution told Ynet.

“The Military Court, however, is adopting a tough approach against these soldiers, but it seems not all soldiers realize the great danger in turning an M-16 rifle into a toy,” the source added.

The following incidents could have caused preventable deaths:

April 22, 2005, a soldier pointed his gun to his head as his comrades shouted at him. He cocked the weapon and fired. The bullet hit a bed, piercing the mattress and the wall.

October 7, 2005, a soldier cocked his weapon and fired a single shot towards his friend. He then loaded a full magazine into the weapon and pointed at his friend, who fled.

November 7, 2005, a shot was fired in a room in a training camp.

December 15, 2005, a soldier loaded his gun and asked “Who wants me to unload a magazine in him?” A group of soldiers asked him to calm down but he pointed his gun to the head of one soldier and the abdomen of another.

January 10, 2006, a soldier shouted “Where is my gun? I am shooting someone here” after discovering that his cellular phone charger had been broken. The soldier fired a shot, but no one was injured.

'Soldiers who play with guns are offenders'

In cases like these the Military Prosecution files indictments against rebellious soldiers after an investigation by the Military Police, who usually arrest suspects.

“There are plenty of incidents of this kind. Too many in fact,” one source told Ynet. “Some are shocking. Sometimes the indicted soldiers don’t understand how close they were to getting indicted for attempted murder instead of inappropriate use of weapons. It is a shame that only when a tragedy occurs, the IDF will wake up. If there is an incident every week then what is being done is not enough,” he added.

In the most serious incident of this kind, an IDF soldier pointed his automatic weapon at his comrade whom he had in the crosshairs and fired a shot that missed his friend by few centimeters. The soldiers covered the hole caused by the bullet and told their commanders that a bullet was mistakenly fired.

“Not all incidents involving illegal use of weapons are life endangering and there are some which are harmless. But it is clear that the use of weapons as toys carries a degree of danger and we have to do everything to control the phenomenon,” the IDF source said.

Meanwhile, a senior officer told Ynet that the IDF is always working to prevent soldiers from using weapons as guns.

“There is an information campaign in all bases with the focal point being the training camps. As far as we are concerned, soldiers who play with guns are offenders and soldiers are requested to report these incidents or else they are accomplices,” the officer said.

“It is clear that games of this kind are likely to end tragically like the event in the early 90s when three soldiers died playing with their weapons. Therefore we are dealing with the phenomenon firmly,” the officer added.

2DREZQ

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USS North Dakota

Shek

It's a military distinction to try and pound into one's head that weapons are not toys. Watch Full Metal Jacket and you'll see the treatment.

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"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

indianguy4u

Is this indiscipline?

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Hala Madrid!!

Shek

Yes. You always treat weapons/guns as if they are loaded, which means you should never have a weapon off safe and your finger on the trigger unless you are sighting in a target.

Anon

No soldier should have his finger on the trigger until he is in the act of physically shooting.

Adherence to that one rule would eliminate 99+% of all AD's.

Shek

Thanks - that was sloppy verbage on my part - however, I would state that you should put your finger on the trigger as you are sighting a target that you are going to shoot - this will prevent jerking the trigger and putting your round off target. Just a slight nuance.

The other thing with carrying a weapon is that you always need to have muzzle awareness - if the weapon is pointing in a "safe" direction, then if something freak happens (i.e. a true accidental discharge), then odds are is that no one will be hurt.

Lastly, we stopped calling negligent discharges AD's. Having your weapon off safe and finger on the trigger is negligent, and a weapon that isn't on safe and has its trigger pulled will fire, and that is no accident. Doing that when you are firing deliberately at a target is negligent.

lemontree

shek/snipe,
What do you have to say about the above mentioned soldiers marksmanship skills?...He missed his own head

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Cheers!...on the rocks!!