Northamptonshire, United Kingdom A 16 year old teenager suffered burns to his hands when the fuze of a mortar round he was dismantling functioned. The boy reportedly purchased the mortar round through an on-line auction website - Specialist Auctions. The teenager believed that the mortar round he purchased was inert as the auction website has a strict policy against posting any military ordnance memorabilia that has energetic materials.

[More]

Washington, D.C. Congressman Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas), a former Army EOD Technician in the late 1980s, serves as co-chair along with Congresswoman Susan Davis, of California, of the recently formed House EOD Caucus. The 19-member caucus was formed to educate lawmakers on how the importance of EOD on the Global War on Terror including counter-IED operations.

To promote the newly formed caucus, more than a dozen EOD soldiers from the 55th EOD unit out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia were invited to the inaugural event to showcase various technologies used by EOD. On display were interrogation technologies such as X-rays systems, personnel protection gear including newly design bomb suits, and various IED defeat tools.

Pictured - Congressman Crawford, Congresswoman Davis, Staff Sgt. Josh Bowden, and Pvt. 1st Class Thomas McCockill of the 55th EOD.

[More]

Makakilo, Hawaii A wildfire burning near a residential subdivision revealed five munitions items that were initially hidden in the brush and overgrowth. The munitions were found by fire fighters fighting flare ups in the area. The Honolulu Police Department's Specialized Services Division responded and identified the munitions as military ordnance. The police then called the Army for support. The Army dispatched the 303rd EOD unit based out of Schofield Barracks to provide technical support. EOD identified the munitions as 2.75 inch rockets. At least two of the rockets reportedly contained potentially live fuzes with the remaining being inert. EOD safely transported the munition to Schofield Barracks for proper disposal. The cause of the wildfire was undetermined.

Washington, D.C. Several years ago the Department of Labor (DOL) added UXO Technician categories to the list of occupations and skill sets under Service Contract Act (SCA) contracts. SCA rates are the minimum hourly rates that companies are required to pay employees working under SCA contracts. The scale or wages vary by location including by State and county.

UXOInfo.com conducted an evaluation of SCA wage lists from over a dozen of locations and came across some interesting results. All wage determinations examined had five categories for UXO technicians under the 30000 series (Technical Occupations). These included:

• Code 30491 - UXO Technician I
• Code 30492 - UXO Technician II
• Code 30493 - UXO Technician III
• Code 30494 - UXO Safety Escort
• Code 30495 - UXO Sweep Personnel

In all cases examined from the DOL website, the minimum hourly rates for the Sweep Personnel and Safety Escort were equal to the rate for a UXO Technician Level I. However, what is more interesting is that the DDESBP and USACE policy requires escorts to be performed by a UXO Technician Level II or higher. Specific language from the respective policies are highlighted below:

[More]

Brunswick, Maine Construction contractors working near the Mere Creek Golf Course on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station found a munition item lying along an embankment near a drainage ditch. The contractors called the police to report the find. The Brunswick Police Department responded to the scene. The responding officer who was a former Marine identified the munition as a sand filled practice bomb. Concerned that the bomb may have had a live spotting charge, the police coordinated with a UXO contractor doing work on the former installation on a separate project to safely inspect and dispose of the munition. The bomb, shown below, was identified as a WWII era 100-pound practice bomb.

Helmand Province Marine Corps Staff Sgt Stephen Dunning was killed by an IED blast while on duty. Dunning, 31, was from Milpitas, California and was an EOD technician attached to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion under the 3 rd logistics group. He was less than two months into his second deployment to Afghanistan. The Marine Corps posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his service.