Welcome to UXOInfo.com's free monthly E-Newsletter on Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). UXOInfo.com is the largest site on the Internet for UXO related news and information. If you have not checked out the UXOInfo.com website, we encourage you to do so at www.uxoinfo.com. In addition to bringing you the latest UXO news and information, the UXOInfo.com website also provides the following:

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The UXO E-Newsletter is issued monthly to provide the industry with important news and information related to UXO. For information on how to advertise in future UXO E-Newsletters please email the UXOInfo.com Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Jenna Coven at jenna@uxoinfo.com.

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Our Safety is the Product of Your Labor

Happy Labor Day to all our readers, especially those who work so hard to keep us all safe from the dangers of UXO including military EOD, civilian bomb technicians, and civilian commercial UXO Technicians alike! Many such men and women have been busy this month responding to calls of suspect UXO as told in our stories out of Basingstoke, UK where gardeners dug up an old ordnance and Martinsburg, WV where EOD from Andrews Air Force Base responded to remove a bazooka round brought in to the Air National Guard.

We are also excited to bring you a review of Guest Author, Tom Gersbeck's newly released second edition of his book, "Practical Military Ordnance Identification," a must-have, comprehensive guide for all ordnance-enthusiasts and professionals.

As always, it is our pleasure to bring this newsletter to the UXO industry each month. We welcome our readers to contact us with your own stories related to UXO. Contributions and feedback make the UXO E-Newsletter and UXOInfo.com website better for all our readers. To share your own story related to UXO, please contact Rhonda Crowley at rhonda@uxoinfo.com for details on how to submit an article.

UXOInfo.com is brought to you by Ordnance Holdings, Inc. (OHI) - please keep us in mind to support your next UXO project from consulting and UXO construction support to full-service remediation and removals. For more information on OHI's capabilities and services, please visit our website at www.ordnanceholdings.com. Finally, when it comes to UXO, please remember the 3R's of Recognize, Retreat, Report.

Members of Congress Attempt To Stop Humanitarian Demining Program Cuts

Washington, D.C. Congressmen TJ Cox (CA) and Brad Sherman (CA) led a letter signed by 89 of their Democratic and Republican colleagues in defense of The USAID demining program in the Republic of Artsakh. The letter was sent in response to the USAID's recent decision to end all support for humanitarian landmine clearance in the traditional boundaries of Artsakh at the end of 2019. The development is a reversal of the testimony USAID Administrator, Mark Green offered on April 9, 2019, during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in which he stated on the record, that USAID is committed to completing the clearance of landmines and UXO within the traditional boundaries of Nagorno Karabakh.

"I'm deeply troubled by the recent decision that USAID had made to halt funding for humanitarian landmine clearance in Artsakh," said Congressman TJ Cox. "This move would leave the people of the region with no hope, and fear of death or injury from landmines, with no local capacity in place to address the ongoing threat."

Download a copy of the letter from UXOInfo.com

Another Magnet Fishing UXO Find

Leicester, United Kingdom A 48-year old man recovered an ordnance item out of the River Soar while magnet fishing. The man, who is part of the Northants Magnet Fishing group, was keen enough to know to back away and notify authorities.

The police responded with technical support from an EOD unit to transport the item for safe disposal. In an interview with reporters following the call, the man described the find in detail - "You get a bit of an adrenaline rush when you find something like that, but you don't know how volatile these things are.... When you find something like that, you just have to put it down on the ground and move away from it and then phone it in."

USAF EOD Responds To 40mm Round

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Horry County police responded to an ordnance call near Waccamaw Drive.

The police requested support from the USAF EOD based out of Shaw AFB. EOD responded and identified the ordnance as a 40mm round.

EOD safely counter charged the round to dispose of the hazard without incident. The source of the round is under investigation.

Garden Variety Ordnance

Basingstoke, United Kingdom A couple made a shocking discovery when they unearthed a munition item while digging in their garden. The couple told a neighbor about the discovery who recommended that they contact the police to report the find.

The police responded with an EOD team from the Royal Logistic Corps Bomb Disposal who identified the item as a practice warhead from a U.S. rocket. It remains a mystery how the item came to be in the couple's back garden, buried about seven inches down. A search of the surrounding area did not result in any additional munitions related finds.

Book Review

Updated Ordnance Identification Guide

For those readers familiar with UXOInfo's Guest Author Tom Gersbeck's book "Practical Military Ordnance Identification," we have great news. CRC Press has released a second edition. The comprehensive guide to ordnance identification has been updated to include pre-1900 ordnance and is a must-have for public bomb technicians, EOD, UXO technicians, archeologists, historians and museum curators alike.

The book offers a comprehensive explanation of the compounds used in the creation of ordnance and outlines the use of the 7-Step Practical Process to effectively identify ordnance. The new edition is filled with detailed diagrams and photos to further aid in the identification process.

Both professional technicians and historical ordnance buffs will appreciate the detailed examination of fuze types, presenting insight into the "brain of the munition." Gersbeck offers a thorough description of all ordnance types, from projectiles and guided missiles, to chemical munitions and landmines. There is also a chapter devoted to underwater ordnance. This second edition now offers readers a list of conventional markings; an expanded list of high explosives; additional technical details on explosives effects; hazards associated with pyrotechnics, pyrophorics, smoke compounds, and incendiaries; a section on pre-1870 projectiles, hand grenades, landmines, and rockets; and details on Man-Portable-Air-Defense-Systems (MANPADS) missile systems.

Practical Military Ordnance Identification is a vital reference for even the most experienced UXO or bomb technician and will provide historians with an equally-important resource for identifying ordnance both old and new.

Order "Practical Military Ordnance Identification" today from Amazon.com, BN.com, or other online book retailer.

For any queries please contact the author at tgersbeck@2ig-llc.com.

UXO-Related History Remembered

Sea Mine Tangier Island, VA - 1950

In this month's 'This Old Ordnance' article, we feature a photograph from 1950 of the U.S. Navy unloading a sea mine with the caption "Mine being taken ashore at Piney Point, MD after disposal from Tangier Island, VA." Source - National Archives, Washington, D.C.

If you have any UXO history you would like to share including documents, images, and/or articles for posting, please send them to Rhonda at rhonda@uxoinfo.com.

UXO Support Services by Ordnance Holdings, Inc.(OHI)

Ordnance Holdings, Inc. (OHI) - developer and operator of UXOInfo.com, is a small certified HUB Zone business, specializing in providing UXO, MMRP, and explosives safety related services.

Services provided by OHI include:

• UXO Construction Support / Anomaly Avoidance
• Dredging Support
• UXO Technician Staffing
• GIS/Mapping Services
• Archival Research

For more information on OHI, please visit our recently updated - website or contact OHI's Client Relations Manager, Jenna Perman: (O) 443.522.2933 (C) 443.857.7474 (E) jenna@ordnanceholdings.com.

About FLIR's Unmanned Ground Systems

A unit of FLIR Systems, Inc., FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems is the world's leading provider of battle-tested Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). We partner with U.S. and international military, law enforcement and industrial users to design and build technologically advanced robots that support a wide range of missions. Whether it's a roadside bomb on the battlefield, a suspicious package on the subway, or a potential hazmat situation, our robots help keep troops, first responders, and the public safe.

FLIR has delivered more than 7,000 UGVs to customers in over 55 countries. Ranging in size from five to 500 pounds, our trusted robots have been used countless times in the field to provide a greater stand-off distance from danger. Using an array of sensors, they gather valuable intelligence so decision-makers can better understand the situation and respond to possible threats. Our family of UGVs are modular, adaptable, easy-to-use, and meet or exceed the needs of operators in any uniform.

MuniRem Environmental (MRE) is an industry leader in providing chemistry that near instantly neutralize and destroys explosives and other energetics to non-hazardous end products. MuniRem degrades energetics and chemical warfare materiel (CWM), while stabilizing heavy metals as the insoluble metal sulfides. MuniRem is recognized as a safer and faster solution for removing explosive risks from different materials.

MRE's award winning innovative green solutions are delivered to its private industry and government clients by highly qualified, dedicated and driven staff of engineers, scientists and UXO professionals. MuniRem has been applied at diverse Munitions and Explosives of concern (MEC) project sites in the United States and internationally.

MuniRem has been applied to:

• Instantly neutralize bulk explosives
• Destroy mustard and other chemical warfare materiel to non-hazardous products
• Decontaminate explosives contaminated buildings, pipes, equipment and range scrap
• Remove explosive risks ahead of UXO Tech response
• Neutralize recovered underwater munitions on-site
• Remediate explosives contaminated soil and groundwater
• Clean explosives manufacturing plants and indoor training ranges
• Destroy explosives in spent activated carbon
• Destroy chlorinated organics (e.g., HCB, PCBs, TCE, PCE, etc.)
• Remediation of metals (AL, As, Ba, Ca, Cr(IV), Hg, Pb, U, etc.) by stabilization as insoluble metal sulfides

For more information on Tripwire Operations Group please contact:
Ryan J. Morris, M.A.
Email: RJM@TRIPWIREOPS.ORG Website: http://www.tripwireops.org/
Tripwire Operations Group, LLC.- 1685 Baltimore Pike - Gettysburg, PA 17325
Office: 888-330-7015 Direct: 717-648-2792 Fax: 717-334-6391 Google Voice: 202-573-8105

For an overview on Tripwire please Click Here.

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For information on Corporate Sponsorships, please contact UXOInfo.com's Marketing Coordinator, Jenna Perman at jenna@uxoinfo.com or (443)857-7474.

Army EOD Brassard Changes

Article Source - Army Times.

Army EOD soldiers are now permitted to wear their EOD brassard full-time. The change was made in a memo signed by Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, the Army G-1. The memo authorized full-time wear of the EOD brassard by all qualified EOD techs beginning with its signing. Previously, the brassard was authorized for wear only while actively engaged in the duty associated with the brassard and identification of personnel was required, such as field operations and event response.

The Army hopes that the additional visibility of the EOD brassard will help recruit soldiers to join EOD since, according to an Army spokesperson "generates questions about its significance and provides an opening for the recruiter to discuss qualifications and EOD career options."

The full-time wear of the brassard will also help with force protection by immediately identifying the wearer as qualified to provide render safe and exploitation capability. Before the update, an EOD tech was only allowed to wear their brassard while actively conducting disposal operations in an environment where non-EOD personnel are present and identification of EOD personnel is necessary, such as a deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq.

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Former Army Range Manager Pleads Guilty For Accepting Bribes

Story from ABC News

A former U.S. Army civilian employee pleaded guilty to conspiring to accept tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes and disclose sensitive Army procurement information.

Franklin Raby, 67, of Greeneville, Tennessee, received items of value from a company hoping to get "sensitive internal U.S. Department of Defense procurement information" while he was working as a civilian range operations manager at Hawaii's Schofield Barracks from March 2015 through May 2018, according to court documents.

The company, REK Associates, allegedly sent Raby high-value items, including a 1969 Ford Galaxie, custom H&H rifle, and $2,300 diamond earrings "meant for the defendant's wife," documents said. In total, the government estimates Raby received between $40,000 and $95,000 worth of items from REK Associates. However, he did not properly fill out financial disclosure forms, including gift and travel reimbursements over a five-year period.

According to court documents, Raby used his "position of influence" to assist REK Associates in receiving a government contract by tailoring the contract's language so that the company had a better chance of getting it, the government said.

Raby would ultimately go on to leave the Army, accepting a position as a program manager with REK Associates in June 2018.