Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne McGee
Range Control had no interest in in how many blinds or misfires we produced, they just wanted the Korean War vintage war stocks gone.
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This is a perfect description of Area 2 in Petawawa.
We did an initial surface sweep for duds in 2004 after a Reservist was injured disturbing an M203 dud while siting trenches. I'm not sure when it was swept prior to that, but it was clearly well before the 106mm RR went out of the system.
The dud contamination level made for an interesting disposal operation. Since 99% of duds cannot be safely moved, the range looked like a spider web of Det Cord going in every different direction connecting all the charges together. We resorted to completely ramping up/hatching down the APC Dozer and fired the huge demolition from right in the middle. Talk about getting your cage rattled
Talking to a buddy who worked at Base Ops later on; apparently the low cloud ceiling that day and the shock wave from firing off all of the charges simultaneously (enough to max out the explosive template for the training area), triggered dozens of noise complaint calls with one coming in from as far away as Pembroke complaining that her china cabinet was rattling. Good times