> Is "bombing range "
> unfenced? Or do you need a ninja suit to tip toe through the "
> unexploded , dummy" ordnance?
I spent a number of years (over six) living at the National Training
Center at Fort Irwin, California... During my various field exercises I
participated in while on the installation I noticed a lot of old MV's
out on the ranges and in the bomb impact areas... IT IS VERY UNWISE to
go into those areas even if you are qualified to recognize and disarm
the unexploded ordinance. Explosives decay and become very unstable
with age. It is not uncommon to find large caliber artillery rounds and
heavy bombs in some of these locations..
On occasions, we would set fire to the brush in the impact areas, both
at Irwin and at the Yakima Firing Center in Washington. In those cases
we would not even enter the impact area to extinghish the fire. If it
burned out of the impact area we would fight the fire, other wise we let
it burn itself out... There is a very real reason why we in the
military don't venture into those areas...
During the 60's and 70's when Fort Irwin was "closed" there were a
number of instances where they found a pickup truck with the keys and
water in the truck, but no occupant.... It was assumed from the stuff
in the back of the truck that the person or persons were salvaging stuff
from the impact area... It was also assumed that since the bodies were
not found that they found something of an explosive nature that
detonated and didn't leave enough to pick up. Ground zero at the
detonation of a 155mm HE round or a 500 pound bomb is not a healthy
place to be. Even the movement of your vehicle or walking around the
unexploded ordinance can be enough to set them off...
That treasure you located on the Bombing Range or impact area may just
cost you your life... I for one would rather pay a few dollars and
located it at a swap that swap my life for the piece...
-- Joe Baker Major, Infantry, USAR=== To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.