Yours, Mine, Ours

  • Published
  • By Chris McCann
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  When hiking in the Alaska panhandle, people are told to prepare for bears, mosquitoes and bad weather. World War II-era explosives usually aren't on the list of hazards.
But last week, some hikers north of Sitka came upon something which appeared to be a sea mine, badly rusted and washed up on the shore. They called the authorities, and not long after, pilots from the Coast Guard had an Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team on the ground to remove the problem.

Senior Airman Jason Miller, a native of Whidbey Island, Wash., and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician with the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron on Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson, went out with his team chief, Air Force Staff Sgt. Shawn Briggs, to get what information they could from the object and then make it safe.

The Airmen took a C-12 Huron to Sitka, where they met up with members of the Coast Guard, including HH-60 Jayhawk pilot Lt. Jeffrey Barela.

Then they traveled up the coast about 130 kilometers to the suspected mine.
"It's really not an everyday thing," Miller said. "Especially for Air Force EOD - usually anything marine like that is handled by the Navy EOD. But because of the remote location and the fact that it was on land, it was easier for us to do it. Of course, if it was something we weren't comfortable with as far as safety, some Navy EOD people would've come up here."

Once the Airmen saw the object, they had a good idea what it was.
"We have a similar one as a display outside our building on JBER," Miller said. "So when we saw it, we pretty much knew what it was. We still did some research, but we knew it was something we could handle."

Their equipment was limited due to the fact that they were traveling by helicopter, Miller explained. Everything they took had to fit into backpacks, including the explosives they carried in to dispose of the mine.

EOD technicians carry twice as much as they need, in case the object isn't completely destroyed by the first explosion. They also carried cameras, GPS gear, and tools for measuring the object as well as small brushes to clear off rust while checking for stamped marks or other evidence.

Barela, a native of Tucson, Ariz., said he enjoyed the mission.

"We had decent weather, and were able to land on the beach about 300 meters north of the mine, so one of the technicians could go look at it, then we let the other people off," he said.

"We get all the information we can from things," Miller said. "In this case, there wasn't much. Usually those kinds of things had stenciled marks, and it was long since eroded away."

Primarily, Miller said, they examined the object to determine how to render it safe. This included using a portable X-ray unit which fit into a backpack to see the explosives inside. After they'd learned as much as they could about it, they were ready to blow it in place. Briggs, a native of Hoschton, Ga., placed the explosives.

"We touch it as little as possible," Miller said. "We weren't moving it around, we just put the explosives around it." The X-raying allowed them to see where the explosive material inside was, so they could place the plastic explosive to destroy it as close as possible.
Miller measured and cut a fuse that would take about 15 minutes to burn, and the technicians got back on the helicopter.

Barela flew about 2,500 meters away, over the ocean, and they watched the detonation.
"It only took them about 30 minutes to get the explosives on the object," Barela said.
"It really wasn't what we expected," Miller said of the explosion. They aren't sure if the smaller-than-expected explosion was due to the age of the device, or if it didn't have much of a charge, or if being submerged so long degraded the material inside. They went back and the technicians checked the site, but all that remained were very small fragments.

"The Coast Guard was awesome to work with," Miller said. "They were very helpful; anything we needed, they provided. I'd never worked with the Coast Guard before."
Although they are seldom seen, Miller said, the JBER EOD technicians have been busy recently.

"This isn't the only thing we've done lately," he said "This was just one of many calls; we had a suspected improvised explosive device and suspected plastic explosives that we took care of. We've done four off-base responses lately, and unexploded ordnance on JBER - it's been busy."

"It was a great day," Barela said. "It was an uneventful flight, and the technicians hadn't been on an HH-60 before. It was my own first time working with EOD, and it was really neat to see."