Wright-Patterson plans explosives-training range
DAYTON (AP) — Wright-Patterson Air Force Base plans to build a range for training airmen to find, dismantle and safely detonate explosives — a growing concern for the military in dealing with roadside bombs and old munitions from previous conflicts, officials said Thursday.
The 88th Air Base Wing, which operates the base, said training at the range would take place about three days a week, for as long as eight hours a day. As many as eight explosions would go off each of those days.
Tech Sgt. Micah Jobe, of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight unit, said the range would allow trainees to use the more powerful explosives they will employ in real-world situations to detonate unexploded devices and ordnance.
The unit, established in September 2007, now uses smaller explosive devices and trains in a wooded area prone to flooding, Jobe said. It expects to grow from its current 12 members to as many as 17.
Jobe said the training focuses heavily on roadside bombs being used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Enemy explosive devices have killed 2,160 U.S. military personnel in Iraq and wounded 21,130; in Afghanistan, 209 have died and 1,248 been wounded.
“Finding and neutralizing explosives has become very big business for the U.S. military,” said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. “Aside from all of the improvised explosive devices that enemies are laying in Iraq and Afghanistan, we also have a huge range of munitions scattered around the world from previous conflicts — everything from cluster bombs to artillery shells.”
The training is constantly being modified based on the types of bombs and techniques being used overseas, Jobe said.
“We always monitor reports of what’s happening over there,” he said. “As their tactics change, we update our training.”
Jobe also said the unit is heavily trained in the use of robots to detect and disarm bombs.
“It is our on-scene hands,” he said of the robot. “We don’t go in [ourselves] unless there is something really, really wrong.”
The range at Wright-Patterson will also be used to safely detonate bombs or other unexploded ordnance found in the area. The unit has responded to 40 such situations since it was established.
The range will include a 6-foot-tall concrete containment barrier. A 500-foot safety radius will surround the barrier, secured by a fence. No more than 5 pounds of explosives will be detonated at once.
Jobe said the explosions might be audible to the base’s neighbors, depending on winds, temperature and humidity.