JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
When an explosive ordnance disposal team receives a call to retrieve unexploded ordnance, or UXO, the last thing on the team's mind may be that they will be retrieving a piece of history.
On Jan. 20, members of the 316th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD team responded to an off base request to retrieve a UXO dating back to the Civil War era.
"I was surprised when I first learned about the UXOs," said Senior Airman Ryan Locke, 316 CE EOD technician. "It was interesting to have a hand in retrieving such old ordnance."
The area around the discovered UXO may have been a detonation testing site for the Union in the 19th century.
"The land that the UXO was found on was probably once used as a proving ground - a place to fire off ordnance for testing or practicing purposes," said 2nd Lt. Doug Ropel, 316 CE EOD flight commander.
This was not the first time the team responded to such a call from the same area.
"The land was previously underwater and was recently unearthed," said Lieutenant Ropel.
The team took every precaution necessary when venturing out to retrieve the ordnance.
"One of the main concerns we had going out there was keeping the local populous safe," said Staff Sgt. Michael Dove, 316 CE EOD technician and team leader for the recent retrieval.
After the UXO was safely removed from the area, it was transported South by the team.
"After approaching the ordnance while wearing a flak vest and helmet, we took the UXO down to Marine Corps Base Quantico so they could render the item inert (take it to a secured location where they remove all the explosive materials from the casing)," said Sergeant Dove.
"After the UXO is inert, we will either be keeping it for training purposes or loaning the inactive ordnance to a museum upon request," said Marine Staff Sgt. Jeffery Kilpatrick, Marine Corps Base Quantico EOD technician. "We use inert UXOs as samples for training to inform students about what a UXO would look like if they ever came upon one."
The team responds to all calls within the National Capital Region and are the leaders in retrieval of such artifacts.
"We are one of the only EOD flights in the NCR," said Sergeant Dove.
Through regular training and dedication to maintaining readiness, the flight is constantly prepared to respond to the EOD needs of the NCR - both on Joint Base Andrews and off.