Squadron cleans bomb dump, makes area safe

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Gene LaDoucer
  • 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Munitions airmen are generally proud to tell people they work in the “bomb dump,” the endearing term often used to describe a base’s munitions storage area. An exception, however, might be when the dump is, well, a dump.

Upon surveying the weapons storage area upon their arrival here in November, airmen of the 355th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron munitions flight quickly saw that a dump is what they had -- an expansive area of land that had become a dumping ground for anything even loosely related to munitions.

Bombs, mortars, mines and other weapons were strewn haplessly about in the area’s cavernous storage bunkers.

In the surrounding fields of mud and waist-high grass were even more munitions dangerously rusting away under the elements. Unexploded landmines were scattered throughout the area and hundreds of munitions storage boxes, pallets and aging weapon systems littered the ground.

“The area was a mess. It was also dangerous,” said 2nd Lt. Andrew Slaughter, munitions accountable system officer. He said conditions forced the team to store U.S. munitions in ways that would not be acceptable at an established base.

The huge stockpiles of Iraqi weapons aggravated the problems, and more weapons were being added regularly as the Army uncovered caches throughout the area around Kirkuk, Lieutenant Slaughter said.

Upon seeing the challenge, the 25-person munitions contingent, deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., quickly developed a plan. They needed to clean up the area and make it safe and functional so they could fulfill the flight’s primary mission to provide munitions to the base’s A-10 Thunderbolt II fighters.

“We’ve had men and women working above and beyond their areas of expertise to clean the storage area to make it more useful and to increase safety,” Lieutenant Slaughter said.

Airmen dug channels and built dirt berms to keep water from flooding the storage bunkers during the winter rainy season.

“When it rained, we’d get up to a foot of water in the bunkers,” Lieutenant Slaughter said. “Through the efforts of the munitions teams we’ve been able to reduce that to almost nothing.”

To provide an enclosed area to build weapons for the A-10s, two tents were erected on a cement pad recently cleared of Iraqi weapons.

To assist in getting rid of some of the weapons, an Army M-1 Abrams tank was brought in to make piles of components unserviceable by running them over.

The fire department performed a controlled burn of tons of crates and other debris removed from the area.

Working with the 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron’s explosive ordnance disposal flight, hundreds of tons of captured Iraqi munitions have been safely removed and destroyed in the last 90 days making room for the proper storage of U.S. munitions. Most of the munitions had to be palletized by hand, a chore made more challenging because technical order information was not available on many of the items, which came from as many as 13 countries, Lieutenant Slaughter said.

“It’s remarkable the teamwork and can-do attitude each member of the flight displayed in turning this place around,” he said. “They’ve been very busy and accomplished a lot in a short time.”

The result of the efforts is an almost 300-percent increase in useable storage space and a weapons storage area that serves the needs of the base.

“This place was a mess when we arrived,” said Master Sgt. Steven Douglas, munitions flight chief. “It now operates much like a stateside base’s weapons storage area. The teamwork has been incredible.

“Still, it’s a unique operating environment and there are unique challenges we’ll continue to face,” he said.