Zabul Province, Afghanistan Army EOD Staff Sergeant Shane Barnard lost his life when he reportedly stepped on an IED causing it to detonate while he was in the process of investigating and responding to another IED. Barnard, 38, survived by his wife and three children was from De Smet, South Dakota. He was assigned to the 3rd Ordnance Battalion EOD at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Barnard originally served as a combat medic and later re-trained as an EOD specialist.

Point Pleasant, West Virginia An explosion occurred at an earthen explosives storage magazine located in the McClintic Wildlife Management area. The WWII bunker where the explosion occurred is owned by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) but is being leased to a commercial business for the storage of gun powder. Authorities from the State Fire Marshal Office and the ATF are conducting an investigation to determine the exact cause of the explosion. Authorities will determine whether aging or deteriorating explosives played a role in the explosion. No injuries were reported.

Columbia, South Carolina A homeowner from the Pine Brook subdivision doing some landscaping in his yard came across two buried bombs. The homeowner called the Richland County Sheriff's Department who responded with a police bomb squad. The bomb disposal unit identified the munitions as 250-pound WWII era bombs. One bomb was reported to contain a live spotting charge. The bomb disposal squad transported the bombs to a vacant lot where they were safely disposed of. Ten homes were evacuated for several hours during the response.

Afghanistan Specialist Wade Slack, 21, assigned to the 707th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 3rd Ordnance Battalion (EOD) was killed when his unit was attacked by insurgents. Slack enlisted in the Army in 2006 and trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Redstone Arsenal, and Eglin Air Force Base prior to getting assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. Slack was 10-months into his first deployment to Afghanistan.