Walking on the Tongue of a Dragon
Article by Guest Author: Jack Imber
Author of the book DEMINER available from Amazon
Imagine yourself working on a very dangerous UXO site overseas. There are no safety protocols and no medical evacuation plans in case of an emergency. You find out that you are working under a tourist visa instead of a work visa which happens to be illegal. As work begins the site safety officer quits. You receive no safety briefs concerning the landmines, booby traps, large projectiles and other ordnance items you might encounter in the field. The detector you are given is the cheapest available and to make matters worse some of your team members are sweeping the grids with the machine turned off.
Dug out bunkers are indicating that the area was once a heavily defended battle position. The brush is thick and metal blade brush cutters are brought out to clear the valley. You speak with your team leader about this and many other issues you have regarding this job, one of which is the lack of a trauma kit for each team. He ignores you and brushes off your concerns.
The next day you remember where you last worked with the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) representative. It was at another UXO site in the US with the same company.