Marines didn’t give any prior warning before firing more than two dozen artillery rounds over a busy freeway in a rehearsal for last weekend’s Marine Corps birthday celebration at Camp Pendleton. 

California Highway Patrol did not receive word that Marines would fire artillery rounds over Interstate 5 the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 17, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. A spokesperson for California Highway Patrol told the Times that although I Marine Expeditionary Force told them that Friday that there would be live-fire over the freeway the next day, it did not specify the rehearsal would also include live ammunition as well. The rehearsal took place in the afternoon, with Marines firing 30 155mm rounds while commuters traveled down the coast on the freeway and adjacent Amtrak train route.

Prior to the Oct. 18 celebration, the Marine Corps had said closing the freeway wouldn’t be necessary, citing its own risk assessment. The Marine Corps said that its alert to the state included the plans to fire artillery in the test run. 

Then during the celebration, one artillery round detonated over the freeway, raining down bits of debris on the closed road. Bits of the round, including a two-inch-long chunk of shrapnel, hit California Highway Patrol vehicles. No one was injured. According to both I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, and California Highway Patrol, the live-fire was cut short early after CHP patrolmen alerted Marines to the premature detonation and the road was swept before commuters were allowed back on it. Marines fired multiple rounds before it was called off. I Marine Expeditionary Force said it was investigating the incident.

The Oct. 17 firings, part of a rehearsal for the actual celebration the next day, involved several M777 howitzers set up along the beach. Photos posted by the Marine Corps to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service show at least six howitzers were used, with teams of Marines from 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division loading and firing them inland during the day time. 

The Marine Corps staged it as part of a large-scale amphibious assault demonstration during a celebration for the service’s 250th birthday. Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the event at the California base. The artillery portion happened just after 1:30 p.m. 

On Saturday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Highway Patrol closed a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5 along the coast for a four-hour window. The state cited both the direct risk of the artillery and the potential for explosions to startle and distract drivers. Meanwhile Amtrak also stopped service for its Pacific Surfliner route for the duration of the event. On Saturday, California Highway Patrol had electronic signs over the freeways warning of “Live weapons over freeway” warning travelers in Los Angeles County about the risk dozens of miles to the south. 

Interstate 5 is one of the busiest freeways in California, with tens of thousands of cars passing through it each day, and the main route between Los Angeles and San Diego. California officials including Newsom said that the decision to close the stretch of the freeway near Camp Pendleton came only after being notified on Friday afternoon of the plan to fire over Interstate 5.

The post Marines fired artillery over freeway without warning during rehearsal appeared first on Task & Purpose.