Posted on 07/07/2010 8:06:07 AM PDT by JoeProBono
WASHINGTON, - The U.S. Transportation Security Administration offered a reminder Tuesday to military members: When flying commercial, don't pack explosives -- live or inert.
"Prohibited items include blasting caps, dynamite, fireworks, flares, hand grenades and explosives, either real or replicated," the TSA said in a statement released by the Defense Department.
TSA spokesman Lauren Gaches said agency workers sometimes find inert grenades or other items packed by service members on commercial flights "as a keepsake from the battlefield."
"The problem is, when you're looking at that through an X-ray machine, you can't tell the difference" whether it's a live or inert grenade, Gaches said.
When TSA officers discover explosives, she said, they sometimes have to close checkpoints or baggage areas or call in bomb squads.
So, thermonuclear bombs are ok, then (not on the list!)??
When I left Iraq...the only war trophies were the ones you bought at the bazaar from the locals....Lots of new Iraqi uniforms started to pop up and bayonets...we soon figured out they were being mass produced to make a buck
Hmmm, do I cut the red wire or the black one?
They got you too huh? please oh please don’t tell me you bought 1 million dinar’s for 700 American hoping somewhere down the road the economy stabilizes and you can covert back...making you an instant millionare?
I almost fell for this one
Explosives and blasting caps are prohibited ... that rules out the compression charges in the initiator (a fission device). Radioactive materials are also generally prohibited, thus ruling out the pit in the initiator, as well as the tritium.
Other than those small details, yes, I suppose you can bring your W-88 aboard a commercial airliner.
Colonel Bubbies, an old fashioned Army Surplus Store, in Galveston, used to have a display with a half a dozen types of inert grenades for sale. And a hand written sign taped to it “Col. Bubbies recommends that customers planning to fly home not purchase these.”
I needed to add a “/sarc” tag for you didn’t I?
Back in April, 1971, I took advantage of a new leave program. This was separate from the standard R&R and was a 14-day leave to the land of the Big PX. You left on a commercial charter from the civilian side of Than Son Nhut airport, not a military aircraft or military charter.
My scheduled departure was delayed by an operation on the Laotian border, so the Squadron Commander sent an aircraft to pick me up and fly me directly to Than Son Nhut. When we got there, I turned my CAR-15 and .45 over to the crew and hopped off with my rucksack. I was half way to the ops building when I remembered what was in my ruck - ammo, mini-frags, mini-smokes, C-4, two claymores, signal flares. I went back to the bird and unloaded all of that stuff. No one ever checked from that point until we landed in Dallas. Customs could have checked, but since I hadn’t bathed in over 14 days, I don’t think they were inclined to do so.
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