SAN DIEGO — A statement from the California Highway Patrol issued Sunday afternoon called the recent firing of howitzers over Interstate 5 “unusual,” but the standing operating procedures that govern all artillery fire on Camp Pendleton make no formal provision for firing over one of the busiest roadways in the state.
Thousands of Southern California motorists planning to travel between San Diego and Orange or Los Angeles counties Saturday afternoon had to change or cancel plans when the state abruptly closed a section of I-5 Saturday afternoon, citing planned live fire over the freeway associated with the Marine Corps 250th Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration, a massive exercise that had thousands of troops storming Camp Pendleton’s Red Beach from ships offshore.
Howitzer cannon fire, said to occur on nearby White Beach, was part of the exercise, lobbing artillery rounds over the freeway and onto an impact zone deep inside the nearly 200-square-mile base…