[Purposely] Hidden Health Hazards Affecting Ohio’s Soldiers
Part Four: Burns at the Range
By Colonel Six, Defend Ohio News Group
Intel provided by Big Sarge
Published: Monday, August 9th, 2021
Updated: Monday, December 13th, 2021, 1:49pm
Camp Perry, Ohio — The regulation dictating Army firing range specifications is TC 25-8 (July 2016). In it, Figure F-5.2 (Page F-12) requires the minimum distance between M4/M16 Zero Range firing points to be 4 meters. Many of Ohio's training ranges, however, do not meet these specifications. The Ohio Army National Guard Safety Office has ignored complaints of injuries for years. Every training cycle, Soldiers are needlessly burned on the face, neck, chest, or back, often times leaving scarring. Also, while being burned by hot brass, many Soldiers instinctively reach to clear the shell from their collar and lose control of their rifle, putting everyone else on the range in danger.
The reason? In my opinion, likely a combination of an unwillingness to prioritize safety over inconvenience, and a lack of care for those it affects. This is yet another example of the leadership culture of the Ohio Army National Guard, where ideas that benefit Soldiers' well-being are not only unwelcome, but mocked and discouraged. If an idea doesn't directly help advance your superior officer's career, it is a waste of time. Sadly, this particular issue won't get the attention it deserves until a catastrophic accident occurs on one of Ohio's ranges.
Across the country, people are occasionally shot and killed accidentally when a firer has a brass shell casing find its way down their shirt. In Florida, a father shot his son in the head by accident when a hot shell casing singed his back. The experienced shooter didn't think, but merely reacted to being 'branded' and began frantically swiping at the shell as he accidentally fired his weapon, killing his son.
And in June of this year here in Ohio, a man's red-hot shell casing bounced off of a wall in the firing range he was shooting at and landed in his own shirt. As he frantically reacted to the burn, he accidentally shot himself in the face. Luckily, the man survived.
We've received numerous accounts of Soldiers being burned during their time in the OHARNG. One Soldier had a round land in his eyewear, leaving a permanent scar on his eyelid. Another Soldier has a permanent scar on her breast after a shell found its way down the collar of her body armor and into her bra. Another has a permanent scar on his neck from a casing that was "funneled-in" by the collar of the IBA. This Soldier says he receives 30% VA compensation for the disfigurement and painful scar.
After being provided unclassified emails showing that this hazard has been brought to the attention of OHARNG's safety office numerous times in the past five years, we decided to conduct an online survey to see if reports of burns were legitimate or unfounded. The results supported the claims we've heard. At the time of updating this article, we had received 79 responses to the survey in the 4 months that it was online. We've decided to close out the survey and finalize the data. Here's what we learned from our readers:
The respondents' data:
75% have been burned by hot brass from the adjacent firer.
25% of the burned Soldiers had burns that required medical attention or left a permanent scar.
0% of the units involved did an LOD or made any other official record of the incident.
23% of those burned reported accidentally losing control of their weapon.
Here are a few of the “Additional Remarks” submitted [with our responses]:
"Nice little burn scar on my wrist/arm from brass that fell down my ACU top." [The VA will compensate you for "painful scars" upon your exit from the military if it happened during AT]
"Brass went on my neck and burned the back of my neck before going down into my bra. Was way too close to person next to me." [See above note regarding VA compensation. Document everything you remember and push your unit to do an LOD or MFR if the injury is "of lasting significance"]
"It also happened to other Soldiers in my unit. [Yes, a very common occurrence]
"Hasn’t happened to me but have witness it happen to others. [the consensus seems to be that this happens at every single Ohio range-fire]
"It sucked. I thought it was normal since everyone else was getting burned. [Hopefully this neglect gets the attention of a leader who cares enough to make safety normal]
“It's always expected when you go to perry” [Should it be?]
"Proper range setup and safe distances between firing positions would eliminate unnecessary injuries" [I agree! Too bad OHARNG Safety Office refuses to address this issue that was presented to them repeatedly, beginning in 2017.]
"Comes with the territory" [Endangering Soldiers should never be the expectation.]
“Brass landed in my body armor collar. When I finally got it out, after a few seconds of agonizing pain, I realized my rifle was pointing about 50° to the right.I also have multiple permanent scars on my neck from the shell casing” [A tragedy waiting to happen.]
"Yes this survey is a fucking joke. Get over it!" [Typical response of a lazy leader who doesn't care that their Soldiers are being permanently scarred]
“Recommend reviewing military regulations regarding line of duty as well as range operations for weapon qualification” [We thoroughly did. Please provide direct references, not ambiguities. Email us what you've got.]
“LOD wouldn't be necessary if it doesn't require extended care or isn't of lasting significance.” [Scars, if painful or totaling a certain combined area, are a VA-compensable condition, but cannot be deemed service-connected if there is no documentation. Do not cheat your Soldiers out of future medical care by being lazy.]
“Camp Perry zero ranges are 8 feet apart. I know this because I helped take them from 40 points to 32 points to make each point 8 feet apart to comply with TC 25-8.” [I would like to hear more about when this project took place – please email. But 8 feet still doesn't meet TC 25-8 requirements. It's 4 meters.]
“Ti###r did cocaine at Camp Perry in 2005.” [Interesting intel, but mostly unrelated to the topic. Please provide more info via email for a future article.]
If you have been burned at an Ohio Range and would like help service-connecting it through the VA, contact your local county's Veterans Service Office (VSO). You can find yours at https://dvs.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/dvs/resources-for-veterans/find-a-cvso/. Please share.
- Six out!
