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 site also provides the following:

• UXO Resume Response Line
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We issue an E-Newsletter every month to provide you with important news and information related to UXO. For information on how to advertise in future UXO E-Newsletters please email Jenna at jenna@uxoinfo.com.

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UXO Image Drive Challenge Continues,

Last month I announced our "UXO Photo Donation Challenge". I want to thank those users who responded and donated images / photos for posting in the Photo Library. Among the images received were a series of interesting images from a British Joint Service EOD operation in Basra, Iraq in 2004-2005 time frame; a series of images of bomb fuzes from a fuze collector; as well as more images from a user doing UXO related research at the National Archives. See article below for more information.

We now have 1,545 images in the Photo Library that are available to all users from the link on the UXOInfo.com homepage. We still need 455 more images to meet the goal of 2,000 images by the end of the calendar year. So please keep the UXO related images coming. Donated images can be emailed to me at jenna@uxoinfo.com.

As a reminder, please do not send any classified or copyrighted material and include the source of the image so proper credit can be given. I truly believe that we can all benefit and learn from one another when information and data is shared. The UXO Photo Donation Challenge is just one small way to help increase the amount of data shared.

I would also like to thank our Corporate Sponsors for their continued support to UXOInfo.com. Corporate Sponsorships allow us to bring you the latest news and information to the industry. For more information on Sponsorships, please check out my short presentation on UXO opportunities, which can be downloaded from the link below.

If you have any questions about the UXO Photo Challenge, the UXO Opportunities presentation or UXOInfo.com in general, please don't hesitate to call me or send me an email at jenna@uxoinfo.com.

Fishing Boat Drags Up Munition and Decides to Bring it Ashore

Barnstable, Massachusetts - Police and bomb squad personnel were called to the Hyannis Inner Harbor to retrieve a munition item that was brought ashore by the crew of the "Jenna Lee". Apparently, the munition was on-board the fishing vessel for about a week after being pulled up from the sea floor during scallop harvesting.

The munition was encrusted and encased in barnacles making identification difficult at best. The munition was x-rayed numerous times by the bomb disposal unit and reportedly examined by an explosives detection dog as well. Ultimately, the bomb disposal unit decided to transport the munition in the back of a public works dump truck filled with sand to a nearby landfill. Once at the landfill, the bomb disposal unit safely detonated the munition.

The munition was reportedly dragged up in the boat's nets about 7 miles off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware. It's unknown why the captain of the fishing vessel decided to keep the munition on-board for such a long period of time potentially exposing his crew to an explosive safety hazard.

USACE Considering Using Canines To Detect UXO and Landmines

Canines have been successfully used in airports and border crossing locations to search for hidden explosives. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is now looking to use them to detect landmines and other buried UXO at sites both here in the states and abroad.

The USACE Philadelphia District working in conjunction with the Baltimore District is looking into using explosive detection canines at the Surf City, New Jersey site and the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville is considering using canines in South Korea.

Story continued on the UXOInfo.com UXO News Wire Service - USACE Considering Canines.

UXO Disposal Operations Marshall Islands

After WWII, the Allies made a concerted effort to remove and dispose of UXO from areas impacted during the war. For the most part when clearance activities did take place they were limited to visual surface sweeps in accessible areas. Most of the UXO sweeps were conducted by active duty military EOD who at the time were also busy disposing of captured enemy ammunition. One area where UXO clearance work took place was the Marshall Islands located in the western Pacific Ocean.

A document uncovered from the National Archives dated January 23, 1950 outlines some of the UXO clearance activities that took place in the Marshall Islands along with a cursory assessment of manpower necessary to complete the clearance effort. In all, the report documents that over 375 U.S. and Japanese munitions including bombs, mines and projectiles were disposed of either through open detonation or sea disposal.

The report concluded that the Jaluit Atoll was considered to be "habitable" although the possibility existed for UXO to resurface over time. Almost as important as listing the areas or islands that were cleared, the report also lists the areas that were not cleared. This included "Mili and Arne Atolls" due to adverse weather conditions making aircraft landing too dangerous and "Wolje Island" due to heavy vegetation cover.

The report concluded "to really clean the Marshall Islands, a twenty man demolition team would require a minimum of two years". To date no other large scale UXO remove actions have been conducted within the Marshall Islands and it is estimated that thousands of UXO remain on the islands and within the surrounding waters.

Download the National Archives 1950 UXO Disposal Letter for the Marshall Islands.

Navy Hornet Accidentally Drops Practice Bomb in Commercial Area

Virginia Beach, Virginia a Navy F/A 18 Hornet returning to Oceana from a munitions bombing training mission at the Dare County Bombing Range in North Carolina accidentally released a practice bomb into a commercial area. The practice bomb, a BDU 48 (see Munition Item of the Month article below) landed next to a warehouse building on a busy street. No one was injured and only minimal property damage occurred. The incident caused significant concerns for city officials and prompted the Navy to conduct a detailed investigation.

The investigation is still underway but the Navy did release their preliminary findings. According to an official Navy website, two F/A 18C Hornet aircraft assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 106, based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, were engaged in routine air-to-ground bombing training using BDU-48 inert training bombs. The flight consisted of a lead aircraft and a wingman. Each aircraft carried 12 BDU 48s.

While engaged in the training bombing run the wingman released what was believed to have been eight BDU 48s on a designated target. The range spotter reported eight impacts on the target's location to the pilot. There was no indication in the aircraft cockpit that one of the eight practice bombs had failed to release. The pilot believed four inert training bombs remained on the aircraft, when there were actually five.

By Strike Fighter Wing Standard Operating Procedures, pilots perform a visual inspection of accompanying aircraft prior to landing. During this mission, the lead aircraft developed an engine malfunction and was required to terminate the training.

Procedures required the aircraft to return to NAS Oceana due to the malfunction. Due to the nature of the malfunction and the calls that accounted for the eight drops, the lead aircraft did not visually inspect the wingman's aircraft as they returned to NAS Oceana. After lowering the landing gear while on final approach to NAS Oceana, the hung BDU 48 fell from the wingman's aircraft.

According to the Navy, both pilots are experienced aviators with numerous flight hours in the F/A-18. Use of the BDU-48 inert training bomb remains suspended at NAS Oceana until the Navy's Engineering Investigation into the incident is complete (estimated to be mid-December).

Schonstedt Instrument Company is the world's leading manufacturer of hand-held Fluxgate magnetometers for UXO and weapons detection. Schonstedt magnetic locators find ferrous metal targets used in landmines, buried ordnance, other munitions and explosives of concern (MEC), and hidden weapons. They have been tested and proven by the US military, private contractors and NGOs in military and humanitarian de-mining operations around the globe. For a 1-page overview of the company's magnetic locator product line, go to www.findordnance.com

Schonstedt Instrument Company
100 Edmond Road
Kearneysville, WV 25430
USA
Contact: Tylee Ulmer

DynCorp International is a multifaceted, global enterprise that provides innovative solutions to the diverse technology and professional services needs of government and commercial industry worldwide. DynCorp International has been selected by the United States government for the important work of removing deadly landmines and other conventional weapons from former areas of conflict around the world.

Information on Corporate Sponsorships can be found in the UXO Opportunities Brief. If you have any questions on Corporate Sponsorships or want to sign up, please contact the UXOInfo.com Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Jenna Coven at jenna@uxoinfo.com or 267.295.8010.

UXO Finds Becoming Common in Home Renovation Projects

As housing prices continue to rise and television shows on home renovations continue to grow in popularity, more and more people seem to be renovating their homes these days. This rise in home renovation projects has at times become very hazardous. Not from rusty nails or lead-based paint but from UXO and explosives. In the last month alone, UXOInfo.com posted 6 articles on the UXO News Wire Service (Linked to the UXOInfo.com Blog format homepage) about UXO and explosives finds during home renovation and construction projects. A summary of these articles and finds are listed below.

Posted on UXOInfo.com: October 11, 2007
Ucon, Idaho - A homeowner renovating an old farmhouse previously owned by his father found three sticks of old dynamite in the basement. Link to full article

Posted on UXOInfo.com: 24 October 2007
Kettering, Ohio - A man going through the possessions of his recently deceased father came across a 10-inch long rifle grenade. The father, a WWII era veteran, apparently had been storing the rifle grenade in a locked trunk in the detached garage for an unknown period of time. Link to full article

Posted on UXOInfo.com: 27 October 2007
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania a contractor remodeling a house found a military munition while removing some old floor boards. The Pike County Bomb Disposal Unit providing technical support identified the item as a Russian 52mm rocket dating back to the Korean war. Link to full article

Posted on UXOInfo.com: 07 November 2007
Hope, Arkansas a plumber working underneath the floor near the foundation of an old house on Third Street found an anti-aircraft shell. The 705th Army EOD unit based out of Fort Polk identified the item as a 57mm anti-aircraft round with a live fuze. Link to full article

Posted on UXOInfo.com: 13 November 2007
Fresno, California After tearing down drywall in his garage, a homeowner noticed a grenade and two mortar rounds hidden within the wall. The responding bomb squad identified the munitions as WWII era munitions. Link to full article

Posted on UXOInfo.com: 13 November 2007
Adelaide River, Australia a man digging in his back yard uncovered an old munition item. An Australian Army EOD team identified the item as a WWII era artillery shell and after further investigation concluded that the man's property was once a munitions disposal site back in WWII. Link to full article

In several cases, the source of the UXO is believed to be from war souvenirs hidden or stored by previous owners or occupants of the houses. Undoubtedly, more and more UXO will be found for many years to come, especially as WWII and Korean War era veterans grow older and either sell or leave their homes to relatives or friends.

Underwater UXO Training Focuses on WWII Era UXO

Solomon Islands -Divers from Australian EOD Clearance Dive Team Four and a Bomb Disposal team from the Solomon Islands Police Force participated in a joint effort to detect and clear underwater UXO remaining from WWII. The clearance effort was part of a training cooperation program between Australia and the Solomon Islands designed to train and educate the Solomon Islands Bomb Disposal Force in finding, recovering and disposing of UXO. The training / clearance effort resulted in more than 400 UXO being recovered from the waters surrounding the Solomon Islands. All recovered UXO were safely disposed of as part of the training exercise.

Thousands of UXO remain scattered throughout the Solomon Islands and the associated waterways from the fierce battles fought there between Japanese and U.S. & Australian forces during WWII. With this latest training exercise, the local Solomon Islands Bomb Disposal Force is better equipped to find and clear underwater UXO.

Bay West is searching for an experienced Project Manager to assist with the preparation of successful estimates, bids, proposals and the management of environmental and MMRP CSE Phase II projects from bid to completion. Qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in geology, engineering, or related field; professional registration preferred; and (3) yrs experience managing federal environmental remediation and MMRP projects including PA/SI, CSE Phase I/II, EECA, RI/FS, and RA under the DoD. Proposal writing and estimating skills a plus. Periodic travel to project sites. Relocation to St. Paul preferred.

For more information on the position including instructions on how to apply please Click Here.

UXOInfo.com is proud to announce the UXO Resume Response Line - an on-line employment referral service specifically designed for the UXO industry. Through the UXO Resume Response Line, the skills of UXO professionals are matched with the needs of UXO remediation and consulting companies.

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Browse the UXO Resumes on-line: UXO Profile Viewer and request resumes that best match your needs.

For more information about the referral service or to post a help wanted ad please email uxojobs@uxoinfo.com

New Additions To Photo Library

UXOInfo.com received a few hundred images last month from the on-going "UXO Photo Challenge". Among the image files received were a series of interesting images from a British Joint Service EOD operation in Basra, Iraq in 2004-2005 time frame and a series of images of bomb fuzes from a fuze collector. Two images from those collections are shown below.

   

In addition, close to 100 more photos from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland have also been uploaded to the UXOInfo.com photo gallery as well. The archival collection includes a series of images from the 1920's taken at Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG), Maryland during testing of the 300lbs and 600lbs Demolition Bombs as well as white phosphorus munitions testing. Two images from the archives collection are shown below.

   

These photos and more can be viewed from the Photo Library using the link on the right hand side of the UXOInfo.com homepage.

We are still looking for more UXO related images. The goal set in the "UXO Photo Challenge" is to have 2,000 images in the UXO Photo Library by the end of the calendar year. With the latest images uploaded, we are now up to 1,545 images in the Photo Library. That means we have 455 more to go to meet the challenge so please keep the UXO related images coming.

Donated images can be emailed to jenna@uxoinfo.com. Please include any credits or text you want to go along with the images. All UXO images received will be uploaded to the on-line UXO Photo Library accessible to all users.

Navy EOD Sailor Killed in Iraq

U.S. Navy EOD Technician 2nd Class Kevin R. Bewley, 27, of Hector, Arkansas, died of wounds suffered from an IED detonation in Salah ad Din province, Iraq. He was assigned to EOD Mobile Unit 11, Whidbey Island, Washington.

Petty Officer Bewley is the 6th member of his unit to loose his life in the line of duty in Iraq this year. He is survived by his brother, parents, and young daughter. Kevin will certainly be missed by friends, family and the entire EOD community.

Man Attempts Cannon Ball Kick Off

Richland County, South Carolina A civil war cannon ball was found along side Valley Farm road. Reportedly, the man who discovered it attempted to "kick it onto his property" before his wife told him to call the police. It's unclear how far the man may have moved the 25lbs cannon ball before calling the police.

The responding bomb squad identified that the civil war era cannon ball had the potential to contain black powder so they confiscated it. The cannon ball was brought to a nearby field where it was safely disposed of through open detonation.