USMC Speeding Ticket

[TexasBred]

Two California Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on I-15, just north of the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar . One of the officers was using a hand held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill.

The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300! miles per hour. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then turned off. Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet (Northrop Grumman aircraft) which was engaged in a low flying exercise near the location.

Back at the CHP Headquarters the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the USMC Base Commander. The reply came back in true USMC style:
~ ~ ~
Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to your
hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.
Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location. Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position..

The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster. Thank you for your concern.

Semper Fi

 

[brandonm_13]

You know. That might seem funny at first, but if we are having to shut off our equipment before it fires at a friendly, there is something wrong. If I were one of them, i would be even madder to know that I was almost blown away because I was doing my job. I know the pilots wouldn't be too happy if the police had an automated rocket laucher that almost fired at them when they were just doing their job.

 

[TexasBred]

You know. That might seem funny at first, but if we are having to shut off our equipment before it fires at a friendly, there is something wrong. If I were one of them, i would be even madder to know that I was almost blown away because I was doing my job. I know the pilots wouldn't be too happy if the police had an automated rocket laucher that almost fired at them when they were just doing their job.

Bullets and missles do not descriminate between friend and foe....that's what the guy with the trigger does...... and he did......Now I'm sure if the cops had a rocket launcher that FA-18 would also have detected that and "handled it" with precision. And they did not nearly get blown away.

I've had plans buzz me and I'm sure I was being strafed while tooling down a country road. It sounds horrible but It felt great when they did it in Nam and it still makes me wave and give them a thumbs up today. That's what the cops should have done instead of notifying the marine corps.

 

[brandonm_13]

I have a .45. I don't have to stop it from firing at a person. If a person is fired at, it is because I actively chose to fire.

And what if the f-18 "handled it" if the police had a rocket launcher? Whose to say it didn't lock onto a friendly? Yes, we know it's the pilots decision to determine if it was a friendly or not, but most people would take a lot more precaution in firing if they were actively doing so instead of letting the computer take care of things, because then they've got someone (something) to blame if something goes wrong.