SAN CLEMENTE : Marine Training to Include Explosions
If you feel a little shaking and rumbling this morning, don’t worry--it’s not an earthquake. It’s the Marines at Camp Pendleton training with explosives.
Camp Pendleton officials forewarned residents that the loud explosions they might hear from 9 to 11:30 a.m. today are Marines training with line charges.
“The line charges are used for detonating mine fields,” said Staff Sgt. Janice Hagar. “Like over in Desert Storm, Marines would fire line charges from assault amphibian vehicles, and when the line charges would land, it would cause the mines in the fields to go off, thereby clearing the fields so the troops could pass through.”
More than 1,700 pounds of explosives will be used in the two-day training, which started Tuesday morning. The explosions can be heard from as far as 50 miles away, and in the past residents in the South County were under the impression they were experiencing an earthquake, base officials said.
“This is just routine training,” Hagar said. “Do not be alarmed.”
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