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austin wrote: peacetime military? you are aware half of our armed forces have seen a deployment, correct. as for line unit versus non line thats negligible because training is based upon you command. units like mine im in a specail troops batt., in a signal company never had an nd(been in over 4 years). i actually find more line units with nd issues b/c they are around it all the time and become complacent. however how much of the brm training you remember is solely up to the individual and noone else. what are these tier 1 units your talking about i have never heard this term. btw a nd has and will always be an art 15 offense but its again up to the command to make these decisions.

You do not know what a Tier 1 Unit is? Google it.

There is a big difference between weapons status in a warzone and outside of it.

You proved my point about training.

02transam wrote: have you been in the military? like ever? because i am and any and every time we goto the range bolts are locked and cleared, while on the range the bolts are locked to the rear and no actions are taken until the tower says so. when we leave the range we clear all weapons, and then get rodded off the range. unless youve been in the military in the last 10 years please keep comments like these to your selves. training and education of what we do as soldiers has come along way.

I was.

I doubt the mechanic spent much time with the SA type pistols described in the article or went through a formal class.

The manual of arms is to drop the mag, eject the round, lock the slide to the rear, visually inspect the chamber, inspect the chamber with a finger, release the slide, then decock the pistol in a safe direction using the decocker or by pulling the trigger. This is spelled out in the Army FM as well as is what is taught at schools in .mil and outside.

The peacetime military ( and this is most of the military outside of the sandbox ) has very poor gun handling procedures. The cold range and procedures you describe above is an excellent example of where process and authority supplant individual skill. In Tier 1 units and in some other units, soldiers are responsible for their weapons and any ND is an Article 15 offense or worse including up to dismissal from service. This creates an environment of extremely high self-discipline. In non-line units, due to the way ranges and drills are conducted, soldiers are extremely lax with their weapons and this creates the mental lack of discipline displayed in the tragic incident above.

The military should go to hot ranges and treat all weapons as hot regardless of the location.

I think the man should be charged with manslaughter.