re: UMass player that got smoked says A&M Commandant is lying

quote:

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I would say you are right, I would be embarrassed after such an incident but they are young and doing what they were told.

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As a retired Army officer, here are my concerns.

The crew of the cannon are wearing appropriate hearing protection. They are well aware of (as a minimum) the hearing hazard.





When we do safety investigations on incidents like this, we look at hazard mitigation. I feel like what the Commandant outlined was true and correct. But look carefully at the sign in the article that EKG linked;



I understand that the area is marked but if (a big if) that is the only type of sign then you are sending the wrong message that can be easily misunderstood by someone who is not familiar with the pre-game activities at Kyle Field. Both sides can legitimately say they acted appropriately with the information they had.

Bottom line, the crew acted in accordance with the pre-game activities. The team entered the field and they fired with no malice or intent to harm. But that does not mean that their actions were not at least partly negligent and possibly reckless. Despite all of the protestations to the contrary, professional Soldiers are well aware of the dangers of any type of weapon they are handling.