Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

3 Soldiers Dead, 6 Missing After Vehicle Swept Away at Fort Hood
NBC News ^ | June 2, 2016 | Kevin Young

Posted on 06/02/2016 3:48:15 PM PDT by Zakeet

Three soldiers have died, and six others are missing, after a military vehicle was swept away by fast moving flood waters Thursday at Fort Hood.

According to a Fort Hood statement, a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle overturned at about 11:30 a.m. at the Owl Creek Tactical low-water crossing and East Range Road.

[Snip]

The six soldiers who remain missing are from the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcdfw.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: flood; forthood; military; missing; soldiers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Prayers up.

1 posted on 06/02/2016 3:48:15 PM PDT by Zakeet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

You NEVER enter flood water with a vehicle unless you don’t mind drowning.


2 posted on 06/02/2016 3:50:32 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("During a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" --George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

YIKES!


3 posted on 06/02/2016 3:53:43 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Obamanomics:Trickle Up Poverty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

There is a natural assumption that a military vehicle is ‘somehow’ immune from natural disasters. A good idea is to inform relatively clueless troops that Mother Nature RULES and ignoring her dangers is a VERY BAD MOVE!

RIP for the dead and prayers for the missing!

FYI: I have not heard recently about the Texas Drought, has it ended?


4 posted on 06/02/2016 3:57:28 PM PDT by SES1066 (Quality, Speed or Economical - Any 2 of 3 except in government - 1 at best but never #3!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Article says it was a low water crossing. We had these all over base in Korea...crossed through water evertimeed. In hindsight, and in light of this tragedy, depth markers would be helpful.


5 posted on 06/02/2016 3:57:33 PM PDT by lacrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

Flash floods happen all the time in Texas. There are low water crossings in west Texas on US Highways.

Where this happened there’s not a lot of places heavy rain can go so the creeks back up and become raging rivers.


6 posted on 06/02/2016 4:01:15 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (The day Trump is sworn in I'm changing my screen name.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lacrew

A “low-water crossing” does not mean it has water over it.

It means the pavement is just a foot or two over the normal water level.


7 posted on 06/02/2016 4:01:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("During a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" --George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

There are some gully washers at Ft. Hood. I broke an M-60 tank driving off a washout somewhere on the East Range road.

CVN-69 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower got under way for 7 months just this morning fighting our WAR with ISIS in the middle east.

Blue Angels crash kills one.

Thunderbird crash today..................

Eagles UP!

Prayers UP !!


8 posted on 06/02/2016 4:01:52 PM PDT by Delta 21 (Patiently waiting for the jack booted kick at my door.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

I live very close to Little Cypress Creek in NW Harris County, Texas. We’re ready to bug out in a moment’s notice. A few weeks ago the water got up to my driveway.


9 posted on 06/02/2016 4:02:44 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (The day Trump is sworn in I'm changing my screen name.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

Old bung hole has sure made a mess of things


10 posted on 06/02/2016 4:06:22 PM PDT by tophat9000 (King G(OP)eorge III has no idea why the Americans are in rebellion... teach him why)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SES1066

Saw a recent video of a couple national guard trucks driving through water just below roof level. They had to be rescued.


11 posted on 06/02/2016 4:06:28 PM PDT by Cold Heart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Moving water always wins.


12 posted on 06/02/2016 4:09:55 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

Women drivers? Some other kind of drivers?

Just asking.


13 posted on 06/02/2016 4:14:50 PM PDT by donna (Forcing men into womenÂ’s spaces is the beginning of Sharia Law in the USA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’m aware of the set-up you describe (heck, I’ve designed the set-up you describe). But what I’m trying to point out is that in Korea, we drove through water...every single time we wanted to cross the creek (the bridges weren’t strong enough).

Soooo...not knowing anything about Fort Hood, or whether or not this crossing is typically wet or dry...soldiers in our Army have been exposed to the notion of crossing them while wet - routinely. And, my little ole suggestion is that perhaps the army should put depth poles next to these, to prevent these tragedies.


14 posted on 06/02/2016 4:35:34 PM PDT by lacrew
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: lacrew

I’m guessing that you weren’t using low-water bridges in Korea but fording the river, and you didn’t cross the Korean rivers when they were flooded.

If a low-water bridge is covered with water, by definition it’s flooded.


15 posted on 06/02/2016 4:45:17 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("During a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" --George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet

I’m impressed when the chair borne warriors weigh in. I usually wonder: have they ever experienced a similar situation? Have they trained to how to deal with it? Could they handle the event when it occurs?

I have experienced a serious flash flood event, not in Texas, but in the Mohave Desert, it presents itself with little warning and the force of the water is beyond expectations. Plucking soldiers out of wadis is high adventure. In my case, it turned out well, but these events are a cat’s whisker away from being a disaster.


16 posted on 06/02/2016 4:54:44 PM PDT by centurion316
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet
I've been retired 24 years and try not to comment on how the Army and it's leadership do things, I remember all of those old "Brown Boot" NCO's from when I came in bitching about every thing and said I'd never be that way. Having said that...

I live on the northwest corner of Ft Hood, I can shoot a handgun onto their property from mine. I live on a mostly 4% grade 800 ft up on the side of a 1050 ft hill and I can get stuck in my pasture right now. All of the creeks and rivers are full in their banks or totally out. Every drop of rain that hits is instantly runoff.

I almost drowned in Cowhouse Creek on Ft Hood in 1972 when I was told to drive my M715 1 1/4 Ton truck through the high water.

No one who has ever seen these creeks around here after just an inch of rain would consider crossing.

This is a leadership failure that cost soldier's lives.

17 posted on 06/02/2016 4:56:29 PM PDT by Feckless (The US Gubbmint / This Tagline CENSORED by FR \ IrOnic, ain't it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lacrew

There are depth markers at every crossing of every creek on Ft Hood. They may have been washed away by debris. All the more reason NOT to enter the water.


18 posted on 06/02/2016 4:59:35 PM PDT by Feckless (The US Gubbmint / This Tagline CENSORED by FR \ IrOnic, ain't it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Feckless

I was going to say the same thing. We don’t get flash floods up here, but when the rivers go over the banks...we drive elsewhere.

This like basic stuff to me. But I only drive a 4x4 pickup. If it’s raining...I don’t have to go out. I am 135 feet above the flood plain. If the water ever got that high, there wouldn’t be much left of New England.


19 posted on 06/02/2016 5:02:47 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (Ask Bernie supporters two questions: Who is rich. Who decides. In the past, that meant who died.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Zakeet
...Owl Creek Tactical low-water crossing and East Range Road.

I am very familiar with that location.

That crossing is well marked with gauges and warnings and there is no vehicle that is certified to safely cross it at flood point.

If they have had as much rain as I've read about, I would hazard a guess that it was probably at not less than 6 feet, probably 8, and moving FAST!

I saw a V-100 get swept away at that crossing.

(A V-100 is a four-wheeled semi-amphibious lightly armored vehicle used during the VN war by the MP's.)

I would not attempt it in an M-1.

There are quite a few of those crossings on Fort Hood, all well-marked with HUGE warnings and cautions.

20 posted on 06/02/2016 5:04:45 PM PDT by OldSmaj (Voting for Hillary because she is a woman is like eating a turd because it looks like a Baby Ruth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson