Orange County, Florida A contractor preparing an area for concrete was severely burned by a piece of an old practice bomb that reportedly still contained white phosphorus. The item is technically considered Material Potentially Presenting an Explosive Hazard or MPPEH. The MPPEH in question was a bomb igniter from a WWII era 4lbs practice incendiary bomb like the one shown in the image below.

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War puts extreme demands on soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. Those demands are even greater for those serving in EOD. Throughout the years, many military units including EOD kept records of their actions, accomplishments, and challenges. A UXOInfo.com reader doing research at the National Archives came across a mini-series of EOD unit records from WWII. Reading these unit histories reminds one of the dangerous and at times unpleasant conditions that EOD units face during war. The unit history records also highlight the extraordinary level of commitment and bravery these soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines showed.

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Cambridgeshire, United kingdom A Royal Air Force (RAF) Harrier jet on a training mission lost a practice bomb sometime after taking off . The aircraft based out of RAF Wittering was on its way to the Holbeach drop zone on a munitions training run when the bomb dropped off the aircraft. The bomb was reported as 14 kg practice bomb like the one shown in the image below.

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Cumberland, Maryland The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 172 was caught by surprise when an official from the State Fire Marshal's office identified an ordnance item hanging in their museum as live. The 2.75-inch rocket had reportedly been on display since a local Vietnam veteran donated it to the chapter about two years ago.

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San Diego, California Navy EOD divers are searching the waters and nearby beaches off the Navy's Silver Strand Training Facility just south of Coronado for a missing explosive charge. The underwater explosive charge, which contains C4, was initially attached to a simulated underwater sea mine during a Navy EOD training exercise.

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Carthage, Missouri A man reportedly working to dismantle a trailer found a munition item nearby. For some unknown reason, the man decided he would transport the munition to his residence before calling the police. The police responded to the man's house with support from the Carthage Fire Department.

The police called the Army EOD unit from Fort Leonard Wood to the scene to provide technical support. The EOD unit identified the munition item as a practice 3.5 inch Rocket M29A2 (shown in the image below). EOD took possession of the practice round from the man and transported it to Fort Leonard Wood. It is unknown how the munition item got to the area of the trailer in the first place.

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New York The city Sanitation Department's plan to build a new garbage transfer station may be complicated by UXO. The location for the proposed transfer station is on the edge of the New York harbor in a location known as Gravesend Bay, where as many as 14,000 plus unexploded Korean war era munitions may lie.

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Ipswitch, Australia Construction work on the new $19M Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) headquarters building has been delayed due to the discovery of UXO and abandoned mine tunnels. Several months ago, seven WWII era UXO were uncovered on the site which were properly disposed of by a bomb disposal unit. Upon further investigation of the area, authorities also discovered several abandon mine tunnels that did not show up on previous surveys of the area.

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Cressy, Australia workers in an area that once a WWII era Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base uncovered a strange round object with a lever attached to it. The workers, who were not UXO or EOD technicians, immediately stopped all work and evacuated the area thinking that the item in question was an old WWII era anti tank landmine.

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Detroit, Michigan a man attempted to enter the emergency room at Detroit Receiving Hospital with what police said was a live grenade. Reportedly, the man came to the ER claiming he needed medical attention, and when he went through the metal detectors they went off. When a security guard went to check the man with a metal detector wand, he pulled out a device that resembled a grenade with the pin out. The guards then tackled the man and secured him. After searching the man more, the guards found a second grenade on his person.

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