A Stunning Display of Military Stupidity

KingDF · October 18, 2012, 09:14 AM

In my opinion, what we see on this video should never happen, especially from special ops. This is absolutely insane. I still can't believe that soldiers would actually have someone stand with a balloon in their mouth and allow another soldier to attempt to shoot the balloon with an M4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1IWgcJMixk

Revoliver · October 18, 2012, 09:24 AM

Didn't Annie Oakley used to shoot lit cigarettes out of her husband's and other peoples mouths? Would you consider them stupid as well?

KingDF · October 18, 2012, 09:29 AM

Just because someone is famous for doing stupid things, doesn't make it any less stupid.

KingDF · October 18, 2012, 09:32 AM

The main problem is that kids see stuff like this and probably think its just fun. Who knows what they might try based on this video? Someone could get seriously hurt attempting to mimic this kind of Special Forces training.

Not only that, it was broadcast on TV for everyone to see.

Art Eatman · October 18, 2012, 09:45 AM

Not sure we really want to assist in spreading news of such idiocy around.

However, if you know of similar idiocies and any efforts to end such idiocy, go ahead--preferably with info about the latter effort.

HiBC · October 18, 2012, 09:58 AM

I had the good fortune to meet a fine old Sgt Major who had a number of wisdom rich one liners.

"There is no sense practicing something you can only screw up once"

An E-silouhette target would have served as well for the demo with the balloons.The human model was there purely for drama.

While it could be argued there is advantage to live fire training such as was demonstrated,in my limited,non-veteran experience,US Army Special Forces troops do not practice drama to impress civilians.The ones I know are low key.

In the vid,there is not a risk vs benefit to add up to good training.

Jackass Show type stunts are better left to skateboarders and base jumpers.

Actually,I just viewed the vid again.I did not hear anything to indicate this demonstration has anything to do with any of our military.I see jackets that appear to have a logo that looks similar to Panther Arms.
I do not buy the idea these clowns represent our military.
So they shop at Cheaper Than Dirt,? Big deal.

Ben Towe · October 18, 2012, 10:00 AM

On the up side, I'm pretty sure those aren't American SpecOps guys. Still... stooopid.

Tuzo · October 18, 2012, 10:13 AM

Note that there is no footage showing both shooters and the fellow holding the balloon. All footage for that portion of the video shows shooters and target separately. When shooting at just balloons the video showed the shooters and balloons from behind.

Bogus staging and stoopid, not special, forces in my opinion.

Scorch · October 18, 2012, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Just because someone is famous for doing stupid things, doesn't make it any less stupid.

Well said! Risky behavior is all the rage these days. We have lots of excellent role models on how to be stupid at the risk of our lives (Xtreme Sports, Jackass films, AFHM, etc). It's almost like our society is making a point of taking thrill seeking to a new low. Used to be if you did something that asinine, someone would come along and whup it out of you.

coyota1 · October 18, 2012, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Didn't Annie Oakley used to shoot lit cigarettes out of her husband's and other peoples mouths? Would you consider them stupid as well?

Well, it didn't make them smart... Back in those days you could legally buy medicine show concoctions containing opium, and cocaine. Just because they did this doesn't make it right.

geetarman · October 18, 2012, 06:43 PM

I have a friend who conducts live exercises for the PD and he was telling me about a group of Special Ops types that were on the same range as he was and they were going down range to tend targets without calling for a cease fire.

After he got the range cold, he asked them why they did that and they replied they were confident enough of the marksmanship of the people on their left and right, they had no qualms about going downrange during live fire.

I can't imagine doing that myself.

coyota1 · October 18, 2012, 06:50 PM

These are the same guys that get the address wrong, kick in the wrong door, and shoot the wrong person.

WWWJD · October 18, 2012, 06:54 PM

Quote:

geetarman: I have a friend who conducts live exercises for the PD...

There aren't any ricochets in spec ops... everybody knows that. duh.

Can we all agree to do our thing and let natural selection do it's thing? I don't know why we gotta hold it down.

coyota1 · October 18, 2012, 07:09 PM

These guys may indeed win the darwin award, but they may very well take someone with them.

Kreyzhorse · October 18, 2012, 07:45 PM

First, these guys were certainly not US military.

Secondly, I'd also bet that they were shooting some type of non lethal ammo. Something like this perhaps http://simunition.com/en

Nonetheless, this is pretty stupid to endorse. Perhaps the show itself might spell out that this was not live ammo but as a tease they didn't disclose that in the promo. Overall pretty stupid though.

Venom1956 · October 18, 2012, 08:03 PM

Its editing... No doubt. also notice how the balloon holder doesnt have ear pro? Or flinch at each shot... pssh totally hollywood.

I concur this stuff is totally stupid to put out there.

Double Naught Spy · October 18, 2012, 08:10 PM

Not military stupidity. It may not be necessary, but SF guys train with shooting past one another, so the fact that somebody stands absolutely still an let's trained folks shoot by isn't too terrible at all. I would not do it voluntarily, but if there is an issue of stupidity, it is of the guy letting themselves be shot by.

The only military problem I saw was that one of the supposedly highly trained shooters could not clear a jam. What does that tell you? How about maybe that they really aren't the highly trained military guys that they are claimed to be?

Jo6pak · October 18, 2012, 08:42 PM

I call shenanigans. Simunitions or hollywood trickery. I noticed the same thing Double Naught pointed out.

Quote:

The only military problem I saw was that one of the supposedly highly trained shooters could not clear a jam. What does that tell you? How about maybe that they really aren't the highly trained military guys that they are claimed to be?

The best thing about this thread is this quote....

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingDF

Just because someone is famous for doing stupid things, doesn't make it any less stupid.

Jimro · October 18, 2012, 09:04 PM

Hesco barriers and Arabs...brings back memories.

And that was actually pretty good shooting (compared to the usual Iraqi/Afghani marksmanship). I couldn't put my thumb on the uniforms, but it reminds me of an Iraqi Police unit for some reason.

Jimro

Bamashooter · October 18, 2012, 09:10 PM

According to the link they were Lebanese Special Forces. At that distance it would be hard to miss. If they want to do a real Buddy Trust Shoot back up about 275ft. See how well you trust your ole pal now.

iraiam · October 18, 2012, 10:49 PM

I'm pretty sure I have never trusted another human being that much. Does that make me a lone wolf type?

Pond, James Pond · October 18, 2012, 11:14 PM

That wasn't dangerous: they gave him safety glasses to wear....

Take the glasses off and it's a whole other story!!

On a more practical note: surely, with an M4 firing in your direction, you wouldn't really "hear the bullet whizz", as one of the two "presenters" claimed in their video, would you?

tahunua001 · October 18, 2012, 11:28 PM

Quote:

The main problem is that kids see stuff like this and probably think its just fun. Who knows what they might try based on this video? Someone could get seriously hurt attempting to mimic this kind of Special Forces training.

Not only that, it was broadcast on TV for everyone to see.

statements like this irritate me to no end.

back when I was growing up(and I still have a 2 in front of my age) you never had to have a legal disclaimer at the beginning of a tv show in case kids thought that was fun because we really weren't dumb enough to try it.
we watched violent cartoons, shot bb guns heck we had regular back yard safaris with our BB guns. we watched america's funniest home videos, and we never once said to ourselves "hey lets go out back and kick each other in the bean bags for a while, that looks like fun".

the way I figure it if a kid is dumb enough to try something like that at home then it is the parent's fault, not the trained professional that did it first. I grew up in a house full of hunters and some of the earliest lessons I learned were that once you die there is no respawn point and guns are not toys. I learned these long before I ever touched a gun.

if my child tried shooting a balloon out of somebodies mouth I would count that as a failure on my part and I would accept full responsibility for my childs actions. I would not blame tv, video games, playboy, the marines or anybody else.

if you have a kid and own a gun you owe it to your child to teach them as early as possible that guns are not toys.

BLUETIP · October 19, 2012, 10:06 AM

Give all the dumb ones guns and videos we need a cleansing.

James K · October 19, 2012, 02:50 PM

Does that really build trust? Boy, let me tell you, it sure does. If I held a balloon in my mouth and someone shot at it and hit me in the head, I would never trust him again!

Jim

October 18, 2012, 09:14 AM	#1
KingDF Member Join Date: September 21, 2012 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 29	A Stunning Display of Military Stupidity In my opinion, what we see on this video should never happen, especially from special ops. This is absolutely insane. I still can't believe that soldiers would actually have someone stand with a balloon in their mouth and allow another soldier to attempt to shoot the balloon with an M4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1IWgcJMixk __________________ Handgun: Kel Tec PF9 Shotgun: Mossberg 500A Rifle: Mossberg Tactical .22

October 18, 2012, 09:29 AM	#3
KingDF Member Join Date: September 21, 2012 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 29	Just because someone is famous for doing stupid things, doesn't make it any less stupid. __________________ Handgun: Kel Tec PF9 Shotgun: Mossberg 500A Rifle: Mossberg Tactical .22 Last edited by Art Eatman; October 18, 2012 at 09:42 AM. Reason: Off-color irrelevancy removed.

October 18, 2012, 09:32 AM	#4
KingDF Member Join Date: September 21, 2012 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 29	The main problem is that kids see stuff like this and probably think its just fun. Who knows what they might try based on this video? Someone could get seriously hurt attempting to mimic this kind of Special Forces training. Not only that, it was broadcast on TV for everyone to see. __________________ Handgun: Kel Tec PF9 Shotgun: Mossberg 500A Rifle: Mossberg Tactical .22

October 18, 2012, 09:58 AM	#6
HiBC Senior Member Join Date: November 13, 2006 Posts: 8,283	I had the good fortune to meet a fine old Sgt Major who had a number of wisdom rich one liners. "There is no sense practicing something you can only screw up once" An E-silouhette target would have served as well for the demo with the balloons.The human model was there purely for drama. While it could be argued there is advantage to live fire training such as was demonstrated,in my limited,non-veteran experience,US Army Special Forces troops do not practice drama to impress civilians.The ones I know are low key. In the vid,there is not a risk vs benefit to add up to good training. Jackass Show type stunts are better left to skateboarders and base jumpers. Actually,I just viewed the vid again.I did not hear anything to indicate this demonstration has anything to do with any of our military.I see jackets that appear to have a logo that looks similar to Panther Arms. I do not buy the idea these clowns represent our military. So they shop at Cheaper Than Dirt,? Big deal. Last edited by HiBC; October 18, 2012 at 10:07 AM.

October 18, 2012, 10:00 AM	#7
Ben Towe Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2009 Location: Middle Tennessee Posts: 1,128	On the up side, I'm pretty sure those aren't American SpecOps guys. Still... stooopid. __________________ 'Merica: Back to back World War Champs

October 18, 2012, 09:24 AM	#2
Revoliver Member Join Date: September 4, 2012 Location: USofA Posts: 80	Didn't Annie Oakley used to shoot lit cigarettes out of her husband's and other peoples mouths? Would you consider them stupid as well?

October 18, 2012, 09:45 AM	#5
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Not sure we really want to assist in spreading news of such idiocy around. However, if you know of similar idiocies and any efforts to end such idiocy, go ahead--preferably with info about the latter effort.

October 18, 2012, 10:13 AM	#8
Tuzo Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2007 Location: Louisiana Posts: 797	Note that there is no footage showing both shooters and the fellow holding the balloon. All footage for that portion of the video shows shooters and target separately. When shooting at just balloons the video showed the shooters and balloons from behind. Bogus staging and stoopid, not special, forces in my opinion.

October 18, 2012, 06:43 PM	#11
geetarman Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2009 Location: Arizona Posts: 3,157	I have a friend who conducts live exercises for the PD and he was telling me about a group of Special Ops types that were on the same range as he was and they were going down range to tend targets without calling for a cease fire. After he got the range cold, he asked them why they did that and they replied they were confident enough of the marksmanship of the people on their left and right, they had no qualms about going downrange during live fire. I can't imagine doing that myself. __________________ Geetarman Carpe Cerveza

October 18, 2012, 06:50 PM	#12
coyota1 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2008 Location: West Michigan Posts: 663	These are the same guys that get the address wrong, kick in the wrong door, and shoot the wrong person.

October 18, 2012, 07:09 PM	#14
coyota1 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2008 Location: West Michigan Posts: 663	These guys may indeed win the darwin award, but they may very well take someone with them.

October 18, 2012, 07:45 PM	#15
Kreyzhorse Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2006 Location: NKY Posts: 12,463	First, these guys were certainly not US military. Secondly, I'd also bet that they were shooting some type of non lethal ammo. Something like this perhaps http://simunition.com/en Nonetheless, this is pretty stupid to endorse. Perhaps the show itself might spell out that this was not live ammo but as a tease they didn't disclose that in the promo. Overall pretty stupid though. __________________ "He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson

October 18, 2012, 08:03 PM	#16
Venom1956 Senior Member Join Date: October 4, 2008 Location: WI Posts: 3,656	Its editing... No doubt. also notice how the balloon holder doesnt have ear pro? Or flinch at each shot... pssh totally hollywood. I concur this stuff is totally stupid to put out there. __________________ E-Shock rounds are engineered to expend maximum energy into soft targets, turning the density mass into an expanding rotational cone of NyTrilium matrix particles, causing neurological collapse to the central nervous system.- Yeah I can do that. I guarantee you will know it if a bicyclist hits your house going 1000 mph. -Smaug

October 18, 2012, 08:10 PM	#17
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	Not military stupidity. It may not be necessary, but SF guys train with shooting past one another, so the fact that somebody stands absolutely still an let's trained folks shoot by isn't too terrible at all. I would not do it voluntarily, but if there is an issue of stupidity, it is of the guy letting themselves be shot by. The only military problem I saw was that one of the supposedly highly trained shooters could not clear a jam. What does that tell you? How about maybe that they really aren't the highly trained military guys that they are claimed to be? __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

October 18, 2012, 09:04 PM	#19
Jimro Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2006 Posts: 7,097	Hesco barriers and Arabs...brings back memories. And that was actually pretty good shooting (compared to the usual Iraqi/Afghani marksmanship). I couldn't put my thumb on the uniforms, but it reminds me of an Iraqi Police unit for some reason. Jimro __________________ Machine guns are awesome until you have to carry one.

October 18, 2012, 09:10 PM	#20
Bamashooter Senior Member Join Date: March 12, 2010 Posts: 1,860	According to the link they were Lebanese Special Forces. At that distance it would be hard to miss. If they want to do a real Buddy Trust Shoot back up about 275ft. See how well you trust your ole pal now.

October 18, 2012, 10:49 PM	#21
iraiam Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2012 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 1,057	I'm pretty sure I have never trusted another human being that much. Does that make me a lone wolf type? __________________ NRA Lifetime Member Since 1999 "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials." George Mason

October 18, 2012, 11:14 PM	#22
Pond, James Pond Senior Member Join Date: July 12, 2011 Location: Top of the Baltic stack Posts: 6,079	That wasn't dangerous: they gave him safety glasses to wear.... Take the glasses off and it's a whole other story!! On a more practical note: surely, with an M4 firing in your direction, you wouldn't really "hear the bullet whizz", as one of the two "presenters" claimed in their video, would you? __________________ When the right to effective self-defence is denied, that right to self-defence which remains is essentially symbolic. Freedom: Please enjoy responsibly. Last edited by Pond, James Pond; October 18, 2012 at 11:35 PM.

October 19, 2012, 10:06 AM	#24
BLUETIP Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2012 Location: tennessee Posts: 119	Give all the dumb ones guns and videos we need a cleansing.

October 19, 2012, 02:50 PM	#25
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Does that really build trust? Boy, let me tell you, it sure does. If I held a balloon in my mouth and someone shot at it and hit me in the head, I would never trust him again! Jim