Firing ban lifted for some Norwich cannons

By Bryan Harr and
Frankie Collyer
Norwich Guidon Staff Writers

The Sir W. C. Armstrong & Whitworth salute cannon, located in front of Jackman Hall, will remain unused pending inspection as part of a safety requirement by the university's insurance carrier. The firing pin is bent because it has been fired so many times, resulting in misfires. (Plourde photo)

This past month the Corps has been without a vital and long-standing tradition which makes the campus come alive, or at least awake. It's back.

As of Wednesday Oct. 14, the Norwich Independent Battery (NIB) was given the go ahead to resume firing most of the university's artillery cannons. When the cannon once again sounded on Oct. 17, weeks of awkward silences at formations, and punch-less celebrations at Norwich football games, were remedied.

The ceasefire of all Norwich artillery weapons on Oct. 2 was ordered when it was discovered that the university did not possess insurance documentation of insurance certifying the weapons' safety, according to Col. Scott Henne.

Recent changes in personnel in the commandant's office have made it difficult to monitor the readiness of the cannons, Henne said.

As a result of an accident which occurred in the spring of 2000, the school's brokerage and risk management firm, Hackett, Valine, and McDonald, requested that the university not fire any of the guns until there had been an inspection, explained Richard Rebmann, the Norwich chief financial officer.

"The order was to inspect the guns and to repair them if they needed to be repaired," Rebmann said.

According to Brig. Gen. Michael Kelley, vice president of student affairs and commandant of cadets, he learned from Rebmann that the insurance company had some concerns about the use of the cannons. Rebmann told Kelley that in order for the guns to be used, there needed to be an inspection of the cannons.

"The stand down was an order -- stop firing within 24 hours of that day," Kelley said.

The insurance carrier told Norwich to "have the guns inspected before they were fired again," Rebmann explained. "I thought that the inspection had taken place, because we put money into the budget for it to be done.

"Recently, someone from the insurance company came in while the guns where being fired and asked me if an inspection had taken place," Rebmann continued. "I double-checked and found that an inspection had not taken place."

Inspections of the cannons are a critical step in their use.

"The inspections are really a blessing in disguise," said Justin Roy, a senior physical education major from Virginia, who is also a member of the NIB. "It will be good for the section and for the school, because it will ensure that there will be no more incidents."

According to Alan Robinson, a 22-year-old senior history major from Hebron, Mass., who serves as the NIB commander, about four years ago there was an accident with the James Gun, one of the Civil War cannons, and Brendan Conway, class of 2002, was injured.

"The powder flask that he was making the coke line with exploded in his hand," Robinson explained, adding that a coke line is a three-inch line, on top of the James Gun, that is used to touch off the fuse.

"He was making his coke line, and some of the embers fell into the tube, and there still happened to be some hot embers; it came back, hit the flask and exploded, sending shrapnel through his body," said Robinson.

Since then, the James Gun has not been fired. The NIB currently has three .75 pack howitzers which it has been firing. When these three, and the salute gun all needed inspections at the same time, the NIB was left without a cannon to fire. The absence of the cannon fire was a glaring omission from everyday functions on campus.

"Without the guns, people start to wonder what's going on," Roy said. "It adds a little pop."

Robinson, Maj. Lane, and Gifford Slater, the advisor to the NIB, had a meeting to decide what to do. Robinson said Slater got in contact with retired Vermont Army National Guardsman Fred Messer, who was in the artillery in the Army for 32 years.

Messer explained that he "did a safety inspection of the guns, reviewed the maintenance procedures, and reviewed the firing procedures.

"I did a functions check to see if everything is in working shape, how they care for the howitzers, before, during and after firing, and just made some suggestions on how to make life easier for them and possibly a little better for the guns," Messer said.

"Few people are actually qualified to conduct inspections," Henne said. "The university hopes to stabilize a relationship with the Vermont National Guard, so we can have access to their technical expertise."

Henne said the cannons will have to be recertified annually, but this time only two of the three howitzers were cleared to fire.

"He deemed two of them safe to fire," Robinson said, explaining that with the third cannon, the extractor pin was worn down, "which is why we have had problems in the past with rounds getting caught in the tube; it has been used so often."

The howitzers were made in 1943 and were used in the South Pacific during WWII.

"Through use over that many years, the extractor is really worn and is allowing the round to jump over top of it, so when you open the breech the round would be stuck in the chamber," Messer said.

Robinson explained that the third pack howitzer is not the only gun at Norwich which is in need of repair and therefore temporarily out of service.

"The salute gun is the cannon on the Upper Parade Ground in front of Jackman Hall which fires a 12-gage shotgun shell," Robinson said. "The firing pin is bent off to the side, because it has been fired so many times, which is why we've had a lot of misfires this year."

"Frankly, the condition of the weaponry is that some of it is dated," said Lane. "The salute gun is an antique."

"We'll make sure that once a year we schedule the inspections well ahead of time," Henne said.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.