Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

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bogart34
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Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by bogart34 »

It has been about two years since this incident, and I had forgotten about it until this morning when I discussed it with some of my coworkers.

I have recently commissioned into the Navy out of the OSU NROTC program. Each year the NROTC unit holds what we call "Color Parade", which is an award ceremony for the midshipmen and a way to show off our unit to the university. The ceremony consists of a colorguard, the unit choir performing, and a keynote address, followed by awards for the midshipmen.

The morning before the ceremony, we were holding a practice with the essential personnel. It is a short walk from the ROTC Building (Converse Hall) to the venue, the theater in Hitchcock Hall (Room 131). What happened was that someone saw the ceremonial rifles for the colorguard and called the police. These rifles were at one point operational, on these the firing mechanism had been removed, the barrels had been filled with concrete, and are still kept under lock and key. However, they appear real and operational. In the short walk over to Hitchcock Hall, someone saw them (either from the Fischer College of Business or the Knowlton School of Architecture) and called in that there were crazy people with guns walking around campus.

(My memory is very hazy about this next part)
About 10 mins into the rehearsal, the Columbus Swat Team (full on tactical gear) opens the door to the hall, shouts for everyone to freeze, and demands to know if we have any weapons. Everyone said no at first, because we had no OPERATIONAL weapons. One of the idiots on the colorguard figured it out and then waved the rifle above his head (not a good call). This entire time, I am staring down the barrel of something fully automatic (I wasn't very knowledgeable about firearms at this point in my life) and utterly terrified. I knew well enough to be terrified, I knew the weapon was loaded and the officer's finger was on the trigger.

The situation was resolved because the Marine Officer Instructor was in uniform, and it became apparent to the SWAT team that they had been called on the NROTC. Nobody had any real weapons and this was a massive waste of their resources and taxpayer dollars. We were questioned individually for a brief period, and then dismissed. On my way out I noted that there were at least 3 helicopters circling around and that the SWAT team brought their tactical vehicles. From the outside, it appeared that something big was going down, but it was just us practicing for a ceremony the next day. Needless to say, I didn't need my morning coffee that day, and might have needed a new pair of shorts.
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techguy85
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by techguy85 »

You'll be happy to know that OSUPD now has their very own shiny new SRT now. Probably would have shot one of you if it had been them,.
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by carmen fovozzo »

In the Army we would of had fixed bayonets on our rifle and would of commenced to have hand to hand combat with the swat Team.. :)

It's anyone guess who would of won....

Thanks for sharing your story.......
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bogart34
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by bogart34 »

Policies changed at the ROTC programs after this incident. The Navy ROTC holds weapons training offsite or weighted PVC pipe in the shape of a rifle, Air Force uses brightly colored fake rifles, and Army uses look alike weapons, but posts signs around the training area that clearly state "WEAPONS ARE NOT REAL".
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by JustaShooter »

bogart34 wrote:Army uses look alike weapons, but posts signs around the training area that clearly state "WEAPONS ARE NOT REAL".
Oh *that* could never go wrong, now could it?
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bogart34
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by bogart34 »

JustaShooter wrote:
bogart34 wrote:Army uses look alike weapons, but posts signs around the training area that clearly state "WEAPONS ARE NOT REAL".
Oh *that* could never go wrong, now could it?
Obviously this is a foolproof plan. Everyone knows that college students are always 100% situationally aware and would never miss one of these signs. :wink:
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by Sevens »

bogart34 wrote:Nobody had any real weapons and this was a massive waste of their resources and taxpayer dollars.
I'll disagree, on two angles.

As a casual reader to your re-telling of the story we certainly didn't see, with our own eyes, what the original caller to LE saw. There's no way for me to judge what they might have seen, what it might have looked like, and on the off-chance that something evil was brewing and they simply blew it off... well, that could be a far worse outcome than what you described. :shock:

As to it being a "massive waste of resources and taxpayer dollars", vehemently disagree. Those officers probably were not hauled away from a hostage situation or a live firefight to respond to your incident. Rather, they were most likely being paid to do exactly what they are employed to do -- be at the ready, to use their skills & hardware as they directed.

Your incident allowed them a very real scenario that turned out to be a "no shoot", and it sounds like they EXCELLED at responding to a situation and NOT killing anyone. That's more "on the job" training, they were being paid anyway, and they arrived in force and left the scene without spilling taxpayer brass. And blood.

Sounds reasonable to me. We don't live in a perfect world, but that was a fine outcome.
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Klingon00
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by Klingon00 »

I don't suppose when a anti-gun person freaks and calls 911 in response to seeing a gun, that they ever consider they are calling for even more guns to show up at the scene do they? Not saying that's what happened here, but just a thought I had while reading this... In a way, the actions of the person who called led directly to innocent people having a gun put to their head. I wonder if they considered that might happen?
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by WestonDon »

bogart34 wrote:Policies changed at the ROTC programs after this incident. The Navy ROTC holds weapons training offsite or weighted PVC pipe in the shape of a rifle, Air Force uses brightly colored fake rifles, and Army uses look alike weapons, but posts signs around the training area that clearly state "WEAPONS ARE NOT REAL".
So they managed to chase ceremonial rifles off campus eh? Sounds like the nanny's won this round.

Just curious, what were they? Springfields, M1s? Please tell me they were not painted white.
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by schmieg »

I attended OSU for a year then transferred to Cincinnati. At both, I was active in ROTC and Pershing Rifles. I was on the Honor Guard at OSU for "Corps Day" in 1965 carrying a perfectly operational M1 Garand with bayonet, though it was not loaded. Pershing Rifles practiced drill with Garands and 1903's (the former for regular drill and the latter for exhibition drill). We normally practiced in the fieldhouse, but sometimes practiced outside on nice days. When I transferred to UC, we did the same until Pershing Rifles got its own building and then we kept the 1903's at the building and practiced either at the fieldhouse or on the football field behind the PR house (I think it's a soccer field now and the PR house is now a parking lot). No one ever said a word back then and no one was ever injured by any of those weapons (except a case of M1 thumb now and then).
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bogart34
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by bogart34 »

WestonDon wrote:
bogart34 wrote:Policies changed at the ROTC programs after this incident. The Navy ROTC holds weapons training offsite or weighted PVC pipe in the shape of a rifle, Air Force uses brightly colored fake rifles, and Army uses look alike weapons, but posts signs around the training area that clearly state "WEAPONS ARE NOT REAL".
So they managed to chase ceremonial rifles off campus eh? Sounds like the nanny's won this round.

Just curious, what were they? Springfields, M1s? Please tell me they were not painted white.
They are disabled M1s. Now they are cased when we carry them around campus. We don't expose them until the very last second for a Basketball colorguard.
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Re: Had the SWAT team called on us a while back

Post by WayneB »

Klingon00 wrote:I don't suppose when a anti-gun person freaks and calls 911 in response to seeing a gun, that they ever consider they are calling for even more guns to show up at the scene do they? Not saying that's what happened here, but just a thought I had while reading this... In a way, the actions of the person who called led directly to innocent people having a gun put to their head. I wonder if they considered that might happen?
Yep. I've said it before. The people who hate people having guns always call people having guns when they see other people having guns.
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