Sometimes you defuse the bear...

  • Published
  • By Combined Joint Task Force - 82
  • 755th Expeditionary Mission Support Group Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN --  The 755th Expeditionary Mission Support Group Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight detonated a Soviet 500-pound bomb 18 years after the Soviet Air Force dropped it on a house in Charikar.

The mission to attempt to render the bomb safe came after Charikar village elders requested Coalition help in removing the weapon and required coordination between Bagram air and security assets.

The bomb, a Russian FAB-250TS, could have thrown fragments and debris up to 4,000 feet into the homes of 30 local families.

"The people being so close made it a challenge," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Montrose, EOD team leader from Poynor, Texas. "Had it been out in a field, it would have just been a matter of moving livestock. We wouldn't have even bothered to try to defuse it."

The Afghan National Police and the 13th Psychological Operations Battalion had to evacuate the villagers to a safe area while CH-47 Chinook helicopters from Task Force Pegasus flew in eight loads of sandbags to cover the weapon.

The EOD team was reluctant to blow it in place, preferring to remove the fuse and pull the explosives out of the area before detonating it at a nearby range. However, after two attempts to remove the fuse, rusted into the weapon by the passage of time, it was time for other options.

"We used a small explosive charge to rupture the case without causing the bomb to explode in full force," Sergeant Montrose said.

What happened afterward was exactly what they were hoping for. The case ruptured, breaking the bomb into smaller parts and burning away the explosives inside.

"It was a beautiful thing," said Senior Master Sgt. William Eaton, EOD flight chief.

The only dangerous piece left was the weapon's nose cone and about 20 pounds of explosives, but it was still too dangerous to move.

"To recover that from the front of the bomb would be too dangerous," Sergeant Montrose said. "We'd have to disassemble part of the wall near loose TNT. So we went in with one block of C4."

But there was something the EOD techs had not planned for. When the plastic explosives went off and detonated the bomb, it detonated something else.

"There was an almighty roar and a huge cloud of black smoke," Sergeant Eaton remembered. "Timbers launched into the sky and lazily made there way toward us. I was glad in a way because it came toward us instead of the houses. Sergean t Montrose yelled 'Cover!' I was just kind of frozen there."

After examining the aftermath, Sergeant Eaton had two conclusions.

"The protective works did it exactly what it was supposed to do, but that was no 20 pound shot," the Carpinteria, Calif., native said.

The blast, Sergeant Montrose said, was much more than what the explosives left in the bomb should have made

"We had just vaporized 300 sandbags and scattered the rest," he said. "And made a huge hole."

Sergeant Montrose said it was possible the bomb was sitting on another bomb or an old weapons cache, possibly the exact weapons cache the Soviets were trying to destroy 18 years ago. Despite the unexpected size of the explosion, the EOD had accomplished their mission. The bomb was gone, and of all the nearby houses at risk, only one pane of glass in one window was broken.

"That was our goal all along," Sergeant Eaton said. "From Plan A to Plan D. That's why we put in the protective works. If everything goes south, as long as no one is there, it's a good day."

Air Force Staff Sgt. Kristie Timberlake and Senior Airman Jessica Lafo rounded out Montrose and Eaton's team during the operation. 

(Article appeared on Blankanthem Military News Web site: http://www.blackanthem.com.)