A live-fire demonstration accompanying the celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps' 250th anniversary at Camp Pendleton, California, ended with a lot of questions about an artillery round that apparently detonated over a California Highway Patrol engaged in traffic control.
The whole sequence of events was preceded by ill-will towards the event by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who shunned the USMC birthday event headlined by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to attend a "No Kings" event.
What we know right now is sketchy, so it is important to try to get a timeline straight.
On Wednesday, the Marines issued a press release headlined, Marines Showcase Amphibious Capabilities for Marine Corps’ 250th Birthday. It read, in part,
I Marine Expeditionary Force will host a live-fire Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration at Red Beach, Camp Pendleton, followed by a community Beach Bash at Del Mar Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, to mark the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday and America’s Semiquincentennial.
...
All training events will occur on approved training ranges and comport with established safety protocols. No public highways or transportation routes will be closed.
In advance of the training event and demonstration, we conducted a detailed risk assessment. All participants will be briefed, medical, fire, and emergency assets will be on site, and multiple rehearsals will be conducted. All air, surface, and ground movements are scripted and rehearsed in accordance with standard operating procedures and established safety checklists.
Part of the demonstration was to include M777 155mm howitzers firing from a position on the beach, so they would be visible to spectators, to an inland impact area. The video below is from the actual event.
The 155mm projectile weighs in at about 100-pounds. The explosive charge weighs about 24 pounds.
The problem is that to get from the firing point to the impact area, the rounds had to go over Interstate 5. The map below shows the area. The howitzers, according to the CHP, were located on the beach approximately inline with the "41." The impact area was the Whiskey Impact Area.
Your guide to Camp Pendleton pic.twitter.com/bmtghRgw6S
— streiff (@streiffredstate) October 20, 2025
This is where the stories radically diverge. Some sources say that artillery is frequently fired over I-5 as a part of live-fire demonstrations.
A spokesperson for the Marines later said the firing was part of a dress rehearsal.
“M777 artillery pieces have historically been fired during routine training from land-based artillery firing points west of the I-5 into impact areas east of the interstate within existing safety protocols and without the need to close the route,” the statement said. “This is an established and safe practice.”
The CHP says it isn't.
CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado later said in a statement that “it is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway.”
“As a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them,” Coronado said.
The CHP is not aware of live fire occurring over Interstate 5 in the past, a spokesperson said.
The government did request electronic bulletin boards along Interstate 5 read: “Overheard fire in progress.” According to the governor's office, Amtrak and Metrolink service on tracks that paralleled I-5 through Camp Pendleton was suspended on the orders of the federal government.
A dress rehearsal, including the artillery live fire over I-5 was conducted on Friday. Newsom characterized the whole event as “a profoundly absurd show of force that could put Californians directly in harm’s away.”
Saturday morning, Newsom ordered a 17-mile stretch of one of the most heavily traveled interstate highways in California closed “due to safety concerns.” In an early morning press release he said, “Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.”
Let's review the bidding. The USMC says it frequently shoots over I-5. The CHP says it is "not aware" of such training. At this point the plan and the dress rehearsal Friday indicate that the Marines do shoot over I-5 and, because they aren't closing the highway, there is no reason to coordinate with CHP.
After closing I-5 to create maximum inconvenience and attempt to blame the administration, Newsom toddled off to a "No Kings" rally, which was permitted precisely because we have "No Kings." There is no word if he was, in fact, wearing an inflatable chicken costume.
As we used to say, "If you're going to have a dog-and-pony show, the dogs gotta bark and the ponies gotta prance." And the demonstration went off according to script.
HELL YEAH, VP JD Vance, our Marine vet brother, soaking in that Camp Pendleton badassery—Semper Fi warriors flipping tanks and owning the field like the legends they are! pic.twitter.com/S0vFdBcaeq
— Public Exposer (@sc_exposer) October 18, 2025
The 250th Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration at Camp Pendleton marks the' 250th birthday and America's Semiquincentennial.
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) October 20, 2025
2/ pic.twitter.com/XxfLXNVVWg
Mostly.
As some point during the artillery shoot, a projectile reportedly exploded in mid-flight over a CHP cruiser engaged in traffic control on I-5.
The Marine Corps is aware of a “report of a possible airborne detonation of a 155mm artillery round outside the designated impact area,” Capt Gregory Dreibelbis, a spokesperson for I Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a statement to Task & Purpose. Firing was suspended shortly after, and the Marine Corps is investigating, he said.
An artillery shell exploded over U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s motorcade in California
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 20, 2025
According to The New York Times, a 155mm shell fired during a live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton prematurely detonated above Interstate 5, just as Vice President J.D. Vance’s convoy… pic.twitter.com/z8jYEuQFZb
A 155mm shell fired during a live-fire demonstration for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday prematurely detonated, dropping fragments of the shell on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and motorcycle. -NYT pic.twitter.com/p6Dz1QTZaD
— TheScannerGuy (@Lafayette_Grant) October 19, 2025
This is where the CHP says it happened.
Location of USMC M777 projectile explosion at Camp Pendleton via CHP pic.twitter.com/LhOnGT5SgP
— streiff (@streiffredstate) October 20, 2025
To say there are lots of questions about this incident is an understatement. For now, let's wait for the official USMC investigation to sort things out.
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