As long as the cadet is 18 years old he can buy rifle ammo. As to magazines, 30 rounders are about as hard to come by as toilet paper. They had to find some 'details' to fill out the article, and the media has never been all that savvy at gun talk so there you are.

No worries in NY. All of our magazines are gone and we don't allow high velocity, armor piercing, incendiary ammo. Nope, none of that scary stuff in this state.

I hope he is found and is well.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
Aren't AR-15 and M4 magazines identical? If so, any LGS would have magazines and ammo.

Remember, he's in the [commie] state of New York. And there is something like a 49 chance in 50 that he is not a NY state resident. Good chance he might get carded/ID'd to purchase and he's also probably under 21 y/o (he is a college junior).

it's a short drive into PA if he were so inclined

--------------------------------

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I hope he is found and is well.

Amen, me boy.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I hope he is found and is well.

And that he finds help to get past whatever has driven him to seek escape.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

West Point cadet goes missing in New York along with his rifle, sparking massive search

A cadet reported missing Friday -- along with his rifle -- from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point sparked a massive effort to locate him, with searchers continuing to comb the area in New York on Monday, officials said.

The cadet, who was only identified as a member of the Class of 2021, was last seen Friday around 5:30 p.m. on the grounds of West Point, which is located about 40 miles north of New York City. The cadet's M4 rifle also was reported missing, but officials do not believe the cadet has any magazines or ammunition in his possession.

I am starting to think that the news article got this wrong about the rifle. It states "along with his rifle" [emphasis mine] to me refers to his issued M14 rifle, kept in his room and used in parades, albeit w/o firing pin. I think "M14" morphed into "M4", and the M4 is a carbine, not a rifle. Yes, I know that last point is completely lost on the media.

The statement "The cadet's M4 rifle was reported missing" to me denotes ownership in a way, again leading me to believe it's about his issued M14 rifle.

It's not easy to get your hands on a M16/M4, especially during the academic year, practice for the Sandhurst competition not withstanding; but that competition is not until April of next year.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

West Point cadet goes missing in New York along with his rifle, sparking massive search

A cadet reported missing Friday -- along with his rifle -- from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point sparked a massive effort to locate him, with searchers continuing to comb the area in New York on Monday, officials said.

The cadet, who was only identified as a member of the Class of 2021, was last seen Friday around 5:30 p.m. on the grounds of West Point, which is located about 40 miles north of New York City. The cadet's M4 rifle also was reported missing, but officials do not believe the cadet has any magazines or ammunition in his possession.

I am starting to think that the news article got this wrong about the rifle. It states "along with [u]his[/u] rifle" [emphasis mine] to me refers to his issued M14 rifle, kept in his room and used in parades, albeit w/o firing pin. I think "M14" morphed into "M4", and the M4 is also a carbine, not a rifle. Yes, I know that last point is completely lost on the media.

The statement "The cadet's M4 rifle was reported missing" to me denotes ownership in a way, again leading me to believe it's about his issued M14 rifle.

It's not easy to get your hands on a M16/M4, especially during the academic year, practice for the Sandhurst competition not withstanding; but that competition is not until April of next year.

New article today from Military.com that does clarify why he had an M4 in his possession:

https://www.military.com/daily...shed-m4-carbine.html

Massive Search Effort Widens for West Point Cadet Who Vanished with M4 Carbine

U.S. Military Academy officials have ramped up their search efforts for a cadet who disappeared Friday with an M4 carbine, enlisting the help of soldiers from Fort Drum, New York, in the manhunt.

The cadet was preparing to compete in military skills events in an attempt to be selected for the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition next spring, Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, a spokesman for the academy at West Point, New York, told Military.com.

"They do ruck marches, land navigation. There is some rifle marksmanship; there is some obstacle-course stuff," he said, describing the train-up for the Sandhurst international competition.

"They had drawn their weapons to start going out. He was right outside the barracks, which is where the arms rooms are," Ophardt added.

West Point officials stressed that they do not believe that the missing cadet is a threat to others, but he may be a danger to himself.

"He left his rucksack, Kevlar helmet and all of his magazines," said Ophardt, who would not elaborate on why school officials believe the cadet may want to harm himself.

Despite the frenzy of activity, West Point is operating under normal conditions with an increased force protection status, according to a recent news release.

About 130 soldiers from Drum's 23rd Military Police Company arrived at West Point on Monday to join a search effort of roughly 400 personnel that includes state and local law enforcement, as well as West Point staff and faculty, Ophardt told Military.com.

Military helicopters along with New York State Police helicopters and drones are conducting an aerial sweep using cameras and Forward-Looking Infrared Radar, according to the release.

New York State Police dive teams have been using sonar to help search in the Hudson River, as well as lakes and ponds on the West Point grounds, the release states.

The search effort has covered more than 2,000 acres in the West Point cantonment area.

"We are confining the search to the cantonment area because that's where we believe, based on the evidence, he is," Ophardt said.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I hope he is found and is well.

^^^^^^
Thank you for thinking positive, when there have been many speculative comments.
I wish the same as you.

Thanks, BamaJeepster. At least "rifle" has now turned into "carbine".

There is a lot of rugged, rocky terrain west of the cantonment area extending out towards Camp Buckner. A lot of ponds/lakes, too.

Water probably isn't an issue, but he could possibly be into day 3 w/o food, not knowing what exactly his preparations were.

quote:

West Point officials stressed that they do not believe that the missing cadet is a threat to others, but he may be a danger to himself.

"He left his rucksack, Kevlar helmet and all of his magazines," said Ophardt, who would not elaborate on why school officials believe the cadet may want to harm himself.

Well, if he wanted to be a threat to others he probably would have taken all of his magazines.

https://www.armytimes.com/news...-search-is-still-on/

The cadet who went missing at West Point on Friday, leading to a widespread search, has been identified as Kade Kurita, 20.

The search for the cadet was still underway on Tuesday with the arrival of about 130 soldiers from the 23rd Military Police Company.

Kurita, who is from Gardena, California, was identified in a Tuesday afternoon release from West Point.

He has been missing since Friday evening when he did not show up for a scheduled military skills competition.

“There has been no cell phone or financial activity in over 72 hours,” Col. Cecil Marson, the West Point garrison commander, said in the Tuesday afternoon update. “This leads us to believe that he is still in the vicinity of West Point.”

An M4 rifle is also missing, and West Point officials reiterated that Kurita may be a danger to himself but likely not to the public. He is not known to be carrying any magazines or ammunition, the release said.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division has opened an investigation concerning the missing cadet and weapon, the release said.

Bad weather was hampering search efforts on Tuesday, but the academy and New York State police as well as the MP company were continuing ground search efforts.

I can think of countless things to criticize the BS news media for, but calling the M4 or its variants a rifle rather than “carbine” isn’t one of them. When the news about the missing cadet was released by the Army, I would bet a nickel, or even two, that that’s how the weapon was described. And understandably so. A carbine is a type of rifle, just as a pistol or revolver is a type of handgun. Referring to the M4 by the more generic “rifle” rather than carbine when discussing the matter with the media or other members of the public makes it less likely that further questions would arise that would have to be answered in greater detail.

As for what weapon he disappeared with, nonfunctioning M14 rifles used for ceremonial purposes wouldn’t be used for the marksmanship portion of the military skills competition.

Added: Perhaps others’ experiences have been different, but throughout my military career and later with civilian law enforcement, I never heard of a piece of organizational property that was issued to an individual referred to as anything other than “his” except in the most formal speech and when it was necessary to make it clear that the item was not his personal property. “His gun,” “his radio,” “his vehicle,” “his office,” “his safe,” etc., were common expressions that applied even to things that were issued for only very limited periods. Again, a public information release would seem very strange if every reference to the missing rifle was something along the lines of, “Cadet X and the rifle that was issued to him for temporary use are missing.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

RIP Cadet.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/miss...ls/story?id=66463344

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
RIP Cadet.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/miss...ls/story?id=66463344

Missing West Point cadet found dead, officials say
ByMORGAN WINSOR
Oct 23, 2019, 5:20 AM ET

A U.S. Military Academy cadet who vanished last week has been found dead, officials said Wednesday.

The body of 20-year-old Kade Kurita was discovered Tuesday night at the West Point military post in New York, where the four-year federal service academy is located. Officials said the cause of death is under investigation, but foul play is not suspected.


“We are grieving this loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to Cadet Kurita’s family and friends,” Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, 60th superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, said in a statement Wednesday.

Kurita had been missing since Friday evening when he failed to report for a scheduled military skills competition. A M4 rifle was also missing and presumed to be in possession of the cadet, who officials had said was not believed to have any magazines or ammunition.

There was no indication at the time that Kurita posed a threat to the public, but officials had said he "may be a danger to himself."

Military, federal, state and local agencies took part in an extensive search for the cadet over the past several days.

West Point is about an hour north of New York City on the banks of the Hudson River. About 4,000 cadets attend the military school.


Kurita, a native of Gardena, California, was a member of the 2021 graduating class.

ABC News' Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

Damn. RIP, young man.

Shit

I was going to respond that he likely didn’t have a full second loadout in a bag in his barracks room. What is kept in the barracks room at the academy is much different than the real Army. For example, for much of my cadet life I could keep no or very limited “civilian” clothes in my cadet room. The only privacy I remotely had was limited to one then two footlockers. And even they were subject to inspection

But now I see he was found dead as I feared. I’m fairly certain it will be determined to be a suicide.

Be thou at peace

Edit: I actually walked the train tracks along the Hudson up towards Newburgh one weekend when I didn’t have leave. I got to the tunnel and briefly thought about going into it until I saw the skeleton of some animal (probably a small deer) on the tracks and thought better of it. On my way back a train did indeed come. I don’t know how much space is on the sides of those tunnels but I’m glad I didn’t try and find out.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
RIP Cadet.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/miss...ls/story?id=66463344

Just awful news. I feel so bad for the young man and his family and fellow cadets. RIP.

RIP Cadet.

Geez, the poor young man had a baby face. I am feeling quite badly for his mother. Given his looks and heritage I wonder if he was bullied. I had been worried that he was in pursuit of a political or social figure.