# Somebody got some explosives from the Marines **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563 "2021-02-10T02:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563/1 "2021-02-10T02:03:06Z")
Not much info in the brief AP article: > **[Missing explosives from Marine base under investigation](https://apnews.com/article/california-san-bernardino-16f964fb2c37949e6add86cce6d07d8d)** > > San Diego (AP) — Explosives are missing from a Marine Corps base in the Southern California desert, the military confirmed Tuesday... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563/2 "2021-02-10T18:57:03Z")
They store a lot of stuff there. Not ginourmous fight-a-whole-war quantities, but enough to get the locals’ attention if much of it is missing. it’s real unclear here whether we have a known recent theft or what we have is the recent uncovering of a bookkeeping problem that may be recent, or may have lain dormant for years. With luck more news will come out in a week or two; at least enough to give us the shape of what’s going in. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563/3 "2021-02-10T19:06:15Z")
What with all the problems in and around San Diego military bases and the recent unrest, seeing the AP story just sent off all kind of “might be a good idea to pay attention to this” flags. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563/4 "2021-02-10T19:14:18Z")
Or not. Given the amount of training that goes on at 29 Palms, the un-named stuff could have been issued for an exercise and just not gotten recorded as expended. Not _likely_, but possible. Hell, a complete and thorough audit of any military base is going to uncover all sorts of missing equipment along with material that _is not_ part of the assigned load-out for the units thereon. I’m not going to be too concerned about this until they release the quantity and quality of the “missing” explosives. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somebody-got-some-explosives-from-the-marines/932563/5 "2021-02-10T19:20:10Z")
I am guessing it’s a paperwork error of some form. Diverting explosives from the magazine would be easier, so I am told, by simply not using all of the material checked out during an exercise. As I read, a boom from 15 pounds of C-4, looks to Range Control a lot like a boom from 20 pounds of C-4. We need to stoke the boogeyman fear, and this is as good a story as any for doing it. I do wonder how often such paperwork screwups, like I imagine this is, happen in the Armed Forces? I I imagine it’s been a lot of sleepless nights, and things like “Hands Across 29 Palms” for the units in question. EDIT: for the type of audit @silenus mentioned above me, the novel, “State Scarlet,” (written by a former NSC member) has a very involved one in the beginning of the book, involving the US military’s attempt to do a full inventory on their nuclear weapons stockpile. Hilarity ensues when the count not only comes up with the atomic detonation munition at issue, missing, but 10 other devices…