SAN DIEGO -- A statement from the California Highway Patrol issued Sunday afternoon called the recent firing of howitzers over Interstate 5 “unusual,” but the standing operating procedures that govern all artillery fire on Camp Pendleton make no formal provision for firing over one of the busiest roadways in the state.
Thousands of Southern California motorists planning to travel between San Diego and Orange or Los Angeles counties Saturday afternoon had to change or cancel plans when the state abruptly closed a section of I-5 Saturday afternoon, citing planned live fire over the freeway associated with the Marine Corps 250th Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration, a massive exercise that had thousands of troops storming Camp Pendleton’s Red Beach from ships offshore.
Howitzer cannon fire, said to occur on nearby White Beach, was part of the exercise, lobbing artillery rounds over the freeway and onto an impact zone deep inside the nearly 200-square-mile base.
It came out one day later that a round exploded prematurely, raining shrapnel down on some parts of the closed freeway. While no one was hurt, pieces of metal were documented striking a CHP patrol cruiser, said to be part of Vice President JD Vance’s detail. One officer, according to a CHP investigation report, reported hearing what sounded like “pebbles falling” on and near his CHP motorcycle.
The incident has spawned endless conversations online about whether or not firing over the freeway was an appropriate reason for the state to close the freeway or whether it was appropriate to fire over the road in the first place.
A long discussion on X, formerly called Twitter, features many who have echoed a statement from Pendleton brass Sunday, noting that these cannons are designed to safely fire overhead at altitudes that keep them from coming anywhere near friendly troops between firing sites and targets.
Pendleton’s communications office did not respond Tuesday when asked for a list of other training exercises that have shot artillery rounds over the freeway.
On Sunday, CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado called firing over the freeway “an unusual and concerning situation,” that is “highly uncommon.”
“As a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them,” Coronado said.
But, while those words made it seem as if the Corps does sometimes fire over the freeway, the state could find no previous notifications of such activity at any time in the past.
An official with the California State Transportation Agency said in an email Tuesday that the organization “is unaware of any previous live-fire demonstration that included firing weapons over a state freeway.”
Firing from Pendleton’s miles of training beaches is not listed among the approved sites in the set of rules that strictly govern all types of live fire on base.
Pendleton’s Range and Training Area Standing Operating Procedures, revised in 2022 and posted on Pendleton’s public website, list the precise coordinates for 53 pre-approved artillery firing areas associated with the base, including several that appear to be at sea. None are west of I-5.
The 115-page document details how to handle all forms of training that involve live ammunition, from rifles and grenades to missiles and mortars, cautioning readers that “the greatest danger to life and limb is associated with live-fire.”
General instructions are particularly stark, making it crystal clear that handling weapons on a busy base with thousands of personnel is serious business.
“Failure to comply with these regulations may result in death or injury to personnel, or damage to equipment,” the manual states.
That is not to say that officers cannot shoot from locations that are not listed in the base’s shooting bible. The document includes the ability to request a waiver from Pendleton’s Range Operations Division — call sign LONGRIFLE — but such requests are to be made “no less than 30 days prior to the planned event.”
Pendleton’s communications office, asked by email Tuesday whether such a waiver had been applied for and granted, did not respond.
Mishaps, like the one that occurred during Saturday’s demonstration, must be reported to LONGRIFLE, with participants required to “freeze all weapons or munitions in place” when ordnance is involved. By all accounts, that’s what happened at Pendleton. When the round reportedly exploded over the freeway, all firing ceased, and base personnel launched a root cause investigation aimed at determining what went wrong.
