A U.S. Navy munitions expert hauls a 41-pound 107mm rocket from an old swimming pool used to hide a munitions cache. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jim Wagner
An explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team empties a converted swimming pool of 107mm rockets and small arms ammunition Saturday. The cache held 1,801 107mm rockets and 85,640 small arms rounds, the largest collection found in the Kandahar Air Field region. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jim Wagner
Pfc. William Hamilton, 8th Ordnance Company ammunition handler, stacks 107 mm rockets prior to detonation. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jim Wagner
Rockets and mortars are detonated two kilometers outside Kandahar Air Field Saturday in what is the largest cache find in the local region, according to EOD officials. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jim Wagner
EOD Blasts Largest Cache in KAF Region
By U.S. Army Spc. Jim Wagner
109th Mobile Public Affairs Det.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The largest cache of rockets, mortars and small arms ammunition in the local region here was destroyed June 20-21 by explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians. It took EOD two days and five separate blasts to destroy the 25,000-pound cache found in the Tarnak Farm region, once the famous training site of al-Qaeda terrorists. In all, members of the 731st and 704th Ordnance Companies (EOD) found 1,801 107mm rockets, 36 120mm mortars and 85,640 rounds of small arms (30mm or less) ammunition.
The munitions were located – following on a tip from the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion – at the bottom of a swimming pool completely covered with dirt.
The process of destroying the munitions took two days and five blast sites because of the size of the haul; each blast could contain only so many pounds of munitions in order to avoid destroying windows at nearby Kandahar Air Field (KAF).