# Think we have it bad?US Army Wants Its Howitzers Back-Article



## vr (28 Apr 2004)

This would be funny if it weren't so sad.   Aah heck...it's still funny.

CNN


Army asks ski resorts to return its howitzers
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Posted: 0219 GMT (1019 HKT) 


RENO, Nevada (AP) -- The U.S. military is demanding the return of five howitzers that two Sierra Nevada ski resorts use to prevent avalanches, saying it needs the guns for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain received the artillery pieces on loan from the Army and began using them last year to fire rounds into mountainsides and knock snow loose.

But the ski resorts received word earlier this month that the Army's Tank Automotive and Armaments Command at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois needs the howitzers back.

"I need to have them back in the troops' hands within 60 to 90 days," said Don Bowen, the Army command's team leader in charge of the howitzers.

"It's a very short timeframe to get them serviceable and back into the theater in southwest Asia. Afghanistan-Iraq is the immediate concern."

The ski resorts said they will comply.

"Given it's a war effort, their needs are greater than ours," said Larry Heywood, Alpine Meadows director of mountain operations.

Howitzers are short-barreled cannons that typically are pulled by a vehicle. They fire three to 10 rounds a minute at a range of about five to 10 miles.

Replacing a M119 -- the type used at the resorts -- would cost around $1 million, Bowen said Tuesday.

The military lent two to Alpine Meadows and three to Mammoth Mountain.

A gun doubling as a safety tool
Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain are the only ski resorts in the nation using the M119 model, said Bob Moore, a U.S. Forest Service specialist in Truckee, California.

The M119 is a lightweight 105 mm howitzer designed for airmobile operations. Other resorts have other models of 105 mm howitzers.

Pam Murphy, senior vice president at Mammoth Mountain just east of Yosemite National Park, said the military has provided the ski resort with recoilless rifles and other guns for avalanche control for 30 years. The howitzers are the most effective, Murphy said.

"It was designed to kill people, but it's a very valuable safety tool for us," said Rachael Woods, a spokeswoman at Lake Tahoe's Alpine Meadows, where seven people were killed in an avalanche in 1982.

Resort officials said they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to transport the guns, reimburse the Army for training and build firing platforms.

But Murphy said she understood the Army's decision: "We're certainly at a different place in the world than when we first got the guns."

The Forest Service said it is working to secure older howitzers for the ski resorts, and the Army's Bowen said he is optimistic that will happen.


----------



## Scoobie Newbie (28 Apr 2004)

I find hard to believe that the mighty American machine can‘t go without 2 arty pieces.


----------



## Korus (28 Apr 2004)

My God.. That would be my dream job.

Spend half the day firing Howitzers and Recoiles Rifles to clear avalanche hazards, and spend the other half of the day skiing..


----------



## Ex-Dragoon (28 Apr 2004)

Actually it just shows the problems the US is having in Iraq....nothing funny at all.


----------



## AlphaCharlie (28 Apr 2004)

I find it hard to believe that 5 arty guns would make a huge difference... but hey what do I know?


----------



## mattoigta (28 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by AlphaCharlie:
> [qb] I find it hard to believe that 5 arty guns would make a huge difference... but hey what do I know? [/qb]


Well in the other article i read about this said that they would cost 1 Million each to replace, so i think thats a big factor too


----------



## winchable (28 Apr 2004)

Pfft...pocket change.


----------



## mattoigta (28 Apr 2004)

pocket change they dont need to spend


----------



## Sandreckoner (28 Apr 2004)

Yet another article used to portray a skewed picture.  It‘s pretty simple.  The local commander let a ski resort borrow several million dollars in weaponry.  Now he‘s responsible for equipping a set of troops in a combat zone, and he can‘t very well go over his head and say, "Hey, I need some additional howies - several million dollars in equipment" when he‘s yet to collect and make use of several million worth of resources he‘s already been charged with.  That‘s just the way the system works, has nothing to do with there being a shortage of these things out there.


----------



## Fishbone Jones (28 Apr 2004)

Sandrekoner,
I doubt he did this on his own authority. He would have had to also supply crews and ammo. I don‘t think it‘s something that can be purchased at the local surplus. We do the same thing out west, using troops and arty to take down avalanches.. It was probably easier to leave the guns in place than drag them back and forth. I don‘t think he was caught with his pants down, priorities just shifted that‘s all.


----------

