Moscow, Russia Three Russian soldiers were killed from a munitions explosion at a military training site in the far east Khabarovsk Region. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. The troops were reportedly conducting a live-fire exercise from an armored fighting vehicle when the explosion occurred. It is unclear at this time what type of munition was involved in the accident or if human error is to blame.

Nova Scotia, Canada The International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions (IDUM) seeks sponsors for the 5th IDUM in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada 28-29 May 2014. The Dialogue will follow NATO Science for Peace (Chemical Weapons) Program 26-27 May 2014. IDUM is a Co-Director of the NATO Program in the Baltic Sea. The week will be jammed-packed with events and end with a one day Economic Summit 30 May 2014 to discuss strategies to develop opportunities related to underwater munitions for marine, environment and defense industries. Do not miss these important week long events on Underwater Munitions Policy, Science, Technology and Responses. There is still time for your organization to be included in the agenda for underwater demonstrations. We have tenative ROV's, AUV's, Sensors, UXO Dive Team and the US Navy Mammal (Dolphins) Program for the 5th IDUM.

IDUM cooperated in the past years with individuals, industry and governments and will continue to cooperate with stakeholders to constructively engage in underwater munitions policy, science, technologies and responses. Some underwater munitions sites in Canada are located off the east and west coasts, the Great Lakes, Bay of Fundy and St Lawrence River. Experts believe the amounts of munitions in our in-land waterways, lakes, seas and oceans can be measured in the millions of tons.

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Salinas, California A Salinas resident was surprised to find more than just historical documents in a box of old WWII-era books. Among the items was an unexploded ordnance, according to Salinas police Cmdr. Henry Gomez. The Salinas Police Department, as well as the Monterey County Bomb Squad, were called to the scene where the unidentified item was detonated in the backyard of the home where it was found.

Butlerville, Indiana Many area residents were calling in to authorities to inquire about a mysterious boom that rattled homes in southern Indiana. The sound and its related tremors have been traced to the routine detonation of a live ordnance at the Jefferson Proving Ground.

According to Range Commander Lt. Col. Ken Stone, the extreme cold temperatures allowed the blast's shockwave to travel for several miles, creating a much larger shockwave than would occur with normal temperatures.

Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom When Beverley Milner Simonds was playing fetch on the beach with her puppy, she never dreamed he would return to her with a hand grenade instead of the ball she had thrown to him.

She actually feared for her and her puppy's lives until she determined that the "explosive" was actually a harmless plastic toy that only looked like a hand grenade. As a volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer, Simonds has been called to deal with actual ordnance that washes ashore on the beach, so the incident was particularly alarming to her.

Question submitted by an anonymous reader:

Unnamed ONCONUS Location I'm in the process of drafting a proposal to establish a new UXO disposal site and I'm trying to find some references for the requirements that would need to be met and whatever site permitting/licensing requirements there are for a DoD installation on property leased from a foreign nation. I'm assuming DDESB is the authority on site permits for explosive disposal.

The purpose of the UXO disposal site is to dispose of old WWII era munitions (i.e., remnants from the war) that turn up on occasion.

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Exmoor, United Kingdom Police officers were called to the scene of a partially buried munition found near Larksborough Ruin. The officers secure the area overnight until the Royal Navy's EOD arrived.

When EOD arrived, they uncovered more of the device and determined it to be a WWII era 100 pound German Aerial Bomb. The munition had not exploded when it hit the soft marshland in the area. Instead, it remained there, undisturbed for over 70 years, until recent rains and erosion of a footpath uncovered enough of the device for a walker to notice it.

EOD disposed of the bomb through open detonation on-site. The area was then re-opened for recreational use.

Hawkinge, United Kingdom Bomb disposal teams were called out when two school boys unknowingly brought home a pair of WWII rocket warheads.

The pair discovered the UXO while they were metal detecting in a field just a few hundred yards from home. According to the responding EOD unit, the UXO found contained high explosives.

At first the boys thought they had found two old rusted pipes. After the boys brought the items home and washed them off, one of the boy's grandfathers, recognized the items as munitions and called the police. An EOD disposal team responded and safely removed the UXO from the area for proper disposal.

Camp Pendleton, California Two U.S. Marines who saved the lives of their fellow comrades were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for their heroic actions while deployed in Afghanistan.

The ceremony was held at 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion (MSOB) Headquarters in Camp Pendleton, and families of the Marines killed in action, Staff Sgt. R. Mote and Capt. Matthew P. Manoukian, were on hand to accept the honor.

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Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Airman 1st Class Matthew Seidler, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron (CES) EOD technician, was honored by more than 150 attendees from the 21st Space Wing, his family and EOD members from the area at a dedication ceremony January 5.

Seidler was killed by an IED exactly two years before the dedication while performing route clearance in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. His team, Team "Tripwire," Tech. Sgt. Matthew Schwartz and Senior Airman Bryan Bell, also lost their lives that day and were honored as well.

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