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Latest I've heard...Commandant79, can you confirm or deny? Thank you.

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I talked with some guys who are in the Cav. I asked if they have heard anything recently about the cannon.

They were pretty upset. They said that as today, the '02 will be used at step off. The new cannon will sit outside of the stadium at the southeast corner. The firing pin will be removed and it will be for looks only. We will have a prerecorded firing shown on the gigatron. There will be no live fire after scores.

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I know that people in the Commandants office are actively troubleshooting the cannon issue. I doubt this would be their solution.

With all due respect it very much feels like there is someone pulling strings completely in contra to how virtually the entirety of the A&M base would like to see the cannon used and how it was promised months ago when the renovation kicked off.

It's absolutely staggering that a plan to fire from the SE tower steps mere days ago has been so drastically undercut.

The cannon fire is a significant and integral part of my personal memories, and I'm positive others can say the same for their experiences. From the outside it seems like there have been multiple feasible solutions put forward to fire from the east exterior of the stadium. So the question of why the plan keeps getting watered down persists.

I have no doubt the cannon handlers have been working to an agreeable solution with the policy setters, so please don't misunderstand, I very much appreciate the Commandant's input on this topic so far. It's just very frustrating not having a specific party to voice concerns and desires towards.

I'll be frank, abandoning another of our traditions is unacceptable. I'm not alone in that opinion.

I think someone should be removed from their position over this. When you spend half a billion dollars you should get your essential items. This obviously wasn't seen as an essential item and that is an unacceptable view from our leadership.

I honestly think the Commandant's office bears much of the responsibility as well even if they weren't the decision maker. The office has enough clout in their positions to have addressed this issue from the get go or at least shown a ton of visibility on it and let the base get involved and raise a stink with enough time for this to be corrected. Aren't items like this what it means to be "Keepers of the Spirit" ? To hide behind some haphazard health study, that was only done the week of the game is unacceptable.

This is a complete failure and needs to be corrected. I am about as disappointed in our leadership not taking appropriate steps in planning and leading this effort, as I am the decision for the cannon to be removed.

It really makes me question how many other decisions being made are not in the best interest of our university and the Corps. Unfortunately there appear to be plenty each time I go back and talk to cadets.

Let's acknowledge that mistakes were made and move forward with a real plan to correct this for next year, while we still have time to react. I am 100% certain an Aggie engineer out there can figure this out if enough momentum is put behind this.

All the whinging about the cannon and noise reminds me of another situation at Kyle Field where everything was cool until somebody complained. We could take a lesson from that incident and use it to resolve this situation.

I wanna say it was my Senior year in the Band (Fall '91 - post Operation Desert Storm) and I think the opponent was Southern Mississippi or somebody like that. Anyway, during the game, a squadron of Apache helicopters headed for Fort Hood flew over Kyle Field. They were low but probably a couple hundred feet above Kyle Field. Hundreds of feet higher than when they fly over my parents house in Waco. Frankly - it was awesome. Anyway, the next thing you know, there are stories about how there were Apache helicopters flying through the middle of Kyle Field during the game, etc. People are nuts. Stories were that the Squadron Commander got relieved, etc. Who knows how much of that was true.

So... what if we had a Texas A&M Apache helicopter that could hover behind the Kyle Field scoreboard and then when the Aggies scored, the Apache could pop-up and shoot a blank Hellfire missile. Of course it would consume a lot of aviation fuel during a 3 1/2 hour football game and I'm sure Hellfire missile blanks wouldn't be cheap either. But... it could work with the existing and future Kyle Field and... it shouldn't really be very noisy. The Apaches make such a sweet sound when they're hovering. But, I'm sure somebody would walk under the helicopter and complain about the downdraft from the rotors. So maybe that wouldn't work either.

I hope the Cannon situation gets resolved before my next trip to Kyle Field in November.

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All the whinging about the cannon and noise reminds me of another situation at Kyle Field where everything was cool until somebody complained. We could take a lesson from that incident and use it to resolve this situation.

I wanna say it was my Senior year in the Band (Fall '91 - post Operation Desert Storm) and I think the opponent was Southern Mississippi or somebody like that. Anyway, during the game, a squadron of Apache helicopters headed for Fort Hood flew over Kyle Field. They were low but probably a couple hundred feet above Kyle Field. Hundreds of feet higher than when they fly over my parents house in Waco. Frankly - it was awesome. Anyway, the next thing you know, there are stories about how there were Apache helicopters flying through the middle of Kyle Field during the game, etc. People are nuts. Stories were that the Squadron Commander got relieved, etc. Who knows how much of that was true.

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IIRC correctly, the Apache stuck around after the flyover and hovered a ways outside of Kyle but were high enough they could watch some of the game. I think that was what got them in trouble.

In reference to cannon, Commandant 79 stated it was a temporary solution for this year only. However, these temporary solutions tend to become permanent ones. The lack of any clear answer in the last few days speaks loudly about the situation.

FB it, tweet it, insta-thingee it, pin-crafty it.

#savethecannon

Get an AC130 and fire the cannon from that

First, there is NO truth to the rumor that we will no longer be firing for games and will only use a "tape" of the cannon firing on the jumbotron in the future. I know there are LOTS of rumors flying around about the cannon and what will happen in the future with it, and I have done my best to explain it in previous posts.

Based on the fact that we had the move the cannon again for this weekend, and we do NOT have time to get a live feed of the cannon to the jumbotron from the new location (the quad), here are the FACTS about what we are going to do for this weekend's game:

1. The new M101A1, 105mm cannon IS going to be placed at the SE corner of the east plaza of Kyle Field. That is where is was ALWAYS planned to go. It will NOT fire there, but will be on display for folks to take pictures if they chose to do so.

2. The Spirit of '02 will fire for Step-off, then will march-in with the PMC, as always (assuming it doesn't rain and the field isn't too soggy). After the march-in, the Spirit of '02 will return to the Fiddlers Green with the remainder of PMC.

3. There WAS discussion about running a videotaped version of the cannon firing for this weekend's game, but we decided that was NOT a good idea. We are NOT going to have a tape of the cannon firing for this weekends game. Because we cannot get a live feed for this weekend's game, there will be NO cannon for this weekend's game.

4. Between now and the Ol Miss game on 11 Oct, we will get the live feed worked from the Spirit of '02 on the quad to the jumbotron in the stadium so that for all future home games we WILL get a live feed of the Spirit of '02 firing after our team scores. I know there are many who don't like a live feed to the jumbotron, but we feel its the best way possible this season to keep the cannon an active part of the game day activities.

I hope this clears things up for all. I know its not the optimum solution, and is disappointing to many, as I have said before, but its the safest and best solution for this season. As I've stated before, this solution is for THIS SEASON ONLY. We are going to look at other options for next season as we begin the renovation of the west side of Kyle Field.

As always, I thank all of you for your support of our Corps. Beat the HELL Outta Rice!

Thank you for keeping us updated, sir.

Thank you sir!

It's clear there are still folks working to make the best of a frustrating situation.

How about placing the cannon in a location where all can see - and firing it away from the crowd off into the distance or into a sand barrel or some such like clearing a weapon?

And, if there is an issue with top of the structure on the corner (which is poppycock - it does not weigh that much... and the recoil is minimized by updated design...) - or there is an issue with closeness to concessions and "people" - then get the design team to design a prominent "safe" position (as they should have the first time!!) - for inclusion in the next phase of construction - or again, fire it off into the distance away from the fans but still observable....

Or, simply reduce the load to an acceptable level and fire it from a position on the sidelines on Kyle Field itself.

This is not an insurmountable problem - and appears to be a "safety and environmental" B.S. issue where they are being obstinate...

I'm oddly ok with the Spirit of '02 being fired from the Quad during the game this season. I like this idea much more than firing from the practice field.

I do not understand why there's not at least a live feed though. I simply can't imaging that there is some sort of technical limitation that would take more than 2 days to overcome. Skype the dang thing if you have to.

Why not put it on Simpson and use more powder? A cam at the NEZ should be able to see it! Heck have the Cav do some Cav drills for the public before the game could also be a great recruiting activity!

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Skype the dang thing if you have to.

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Have you ever seen news broadcasts where they're using Skype to report from some unknown location in Africa? The quality is terrible. Definitely not the super duper HD Video they need for the massive scoreboard.

And have you ever tried to make a mobile phone call at Kyle Field on game day. Good luck with that.

I can imagine it might take a few days to figure out how to run a live video feed 500 metres or however far it is from the quad to Kyle Field. And yeah, I like the idea of really firing the cannon on every score from the Quad. Obviously from Kyle Field would be better but if we have to have a special workaround for this year that's cool.

I want to acknowledge the effort that the Commandant and his staff are putting into keeping our traditions alive. This is great effort and I'm sure we'll get the best possible outcome in the long run.

I (wrongly) assumed that the 105mm howitzer was going to be the cannon that was fired. And I assumed that it would be so damned loud that it wouldn't matter if the cannon was inside the stadium or outside. If it's just going to serve as a static display though I'd rather have a static display of Mobility, Firepower and Shock Effect By now, there's got to be a slick M1 that is available for use as a static display.


FYI - this isn't me in this picture. It's pretty hard to find an M1 or XM1 picture on the Internet. So I pulled this off some dude's web site.

One other funny thing that my suggestion reminds me of. In the late 1990s when we used to bring National Guard equipment to County Fairs and events in West Texas (Brady, Coleman, Abilene, San Angelo, etc.), it was always funny which vehicles attracted the most attention. You could bring an M1 Abrams Tank and a HMMWV to an event and only a few people would be interested in the tank. But everybody and their brother wanted to know about the Hummer, climb in it, etc. I guess it's just what more people can relate to.

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I (wrongly) assumed that the 105mm howitzer was going to be the cannon that was fired. And I assumed that it would be so damned loud that it wouldn't matter if the cannon was inside the stadium or outside.

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The 105 was supposed to fire

Release the reports related to the cannon noise, and the credentials of those involved. If OSHA standards (or what ever is being used) are set then lets see the official numbers.

We have a lot of people involved in this process ~ someone should have something more than just talk on an internet forum.

open-records@tamu.edu

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open-records@tamu.edu

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Like that applies to Sharp's TAMU.

Thy are less transparent than Obama's administration.

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I can imagine it might take a few days to figure out how to run a live video feed 500 metres or however far it is from the quad to Kyle Field.

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Run network cable to setup at cannon, then unicast stream it over TAMU network to Kyle Field media control room. Not that hard to pull off by kickoff.

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I can imagine it might take a few days to figure out how to run a live video feed 500 metres or however far it is from the quad to Kyle Field.

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Run network cable to setup at cannon, then unicast stream it over TAMU network to Kyle Field media control room. Not that hard to pull off by kickoff.

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seriously. one of the top engineering schools in the country and we can't figure out how to transmit a 4K signal 500 meters?

Credit RoughRider:

Watching the BYU game and they have a cannon on the field. That stadium looks to have stands on all four sides. It is close enough to the endzone that I could see it after a touchdown was scored. It might be a pea shooter, but it is there. Smaller load.....

BYU Cannon Crew Info

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Credit RoughRider:

Watching the BYU game and they have a cannon on the field. That stadium looks to have stands on all four sides. It is close enough to the endzone that I could see it after a touchdown was scored. It might be a pea shooter, but it is there. Smaller load.....

BYU Cannon Crew Info

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you see this administration. We're being beat by BYU. What is this, tu?

It seems like it would be much easier to find a location if it was included in the design package and not after construction.

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It seems like it would be much easier to find a location if it was included in the design package and not after construction.

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As if to say, a deep commitment to "preserving and enhancing our traditions"? I rana check, the first reference to the cannon in "New Kyle" I can find on here was in 2012. I think we've been sold a bill of goods.

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seriously. one of the top engineering schools in the country and we can't figure out how to transmit a 4K signal 500 meters?

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We're known for Petroleum Engineering. Not for broadcast television

As for BYU - my era is in the books. 65-14.

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I can imagine it might take a few days to figure out how to run a live video feed 500 metres or however far it is from the quad to Kyle Field.

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Run network cable to setup at cannon, then unicast stream it over TAMU network to Kyle Field media control room. Not that hard to pull off by kickoff.

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seriously. one of the top engineering schools in the country and we can't figure out how to transmit a 4K signal 500 meters?

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We apparently can't figure out how to safely fire a cannon inside a stadium, either.

Some potential problems can be forgotten during a big project, this is common... this is one problem that should not have happened in the first place, and should have been accounted for during the planning phase for construction...

some responses that I have read from individuals who appear to be in the "know" sound bureaucratic in nature, that is disappointing. Why not just simply say "Damn we messed up, sorry; were going to fix it next year". Instead of a sterile P.R. response.

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Some potential problems can be forgotten during a big project, this is common... this is one problem that should not have happened in the first place, and should have been accounted for during the planning phase for construction...

some responses that I have read from individuals who appear to be in the "know" sound bureaucratic in nature, that is disappointing. Why not just simply say "Damn we messed up, sorry; were going to fix it next year". Instead of a sterile P.R. response.

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this is textbook bad stakeholder and requirements management. Nearly unforgivables sins in the project management world.

The inclusion of the cannon should have been included from day 1. If it was included in the beginning and later dropped there would have to be documentation justifying the change. On a project this scale this would be an "on the fly" change. There would have been a change board, that along with the project sponsor, would have been required to approve such a change.

On a not really related topic... does anyone have any insight on the new statues? They are completely horrible. The Corps and the band statues are not too bad, but the yell leader, the EKG, and the war hymn statues are COMPLETELY awful. Does anyone know how many millions of dollars were wasted on these abominations? We need to melt them down and try again.

They're not bad. They're not going anywhere. Get past it.

Have you seen them???

I know it isn't a cannon, but it makes a nice boom. What if they got a 120mm and fired illum?

I had suggested to my sons that maybe we need to bring out the air cannons (used to scare off the black birds) and modify the Spirit of '02 to fire an air blast for sound effects and a small talc charge on top of it for that "smoke" effect. Although I was being facetious, me thinks it might be a solution in the long run.

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I had suggested to my sons that maybe we need to bring out the air cannons (used to scare off the black birds) and modify the Spirit of '02 to fire an air blast for sound effects and a small talc charge on top of it for that "smoke" effect. Although I was being facetious, me thinks it might be a solution in the long run.

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you wanna get cut?