Southwest Asia -- The 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight conducted a munitions burn at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Nov. 9, 2016.
The flight conducted the burn to dispose of unserviceable ammunition, including unexploded ordnance found on or off base, as well as ammunition turned in by the 386th Munitions flight and from amnesty boxes around base.
386th EOD members destroyed a total of 18,974 pieces of ammunition, including 20 mm caliber cartridges and 5.56 NATO cartridges, among other ordnance.
Since some of the ammunition is from unknown origins, the EOD team can’t verify if and for how long it has been exposed to the elements and must therefore destroy it.
“It might be too dangerous to use or might damage the weapon,” explained Capt. Jose Martinez, 386th EOD flight commander.
The process for destroying ordnance is the same here as it is back in the U.S., said Martinez. It’s easier to destroy the ammunition here rather than shipping it back and having it take up space in the aircraft that could be used for hauling other items.
The munitions burn also served as an opportunity to train junior EOD members.
The 386th EOD brought in four 379th EOD members to participate in the burn. Some of these members haven’t seen this process done before, so this burn provided them with experience, said Martinez.