CAMP BEDROCK, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA -- "WAR IS HELL"! But the remains of war can be just as devastating, if not more so to the ones left behind. One wrong move by an unsuspecting individual in a war ravaged area can change a life forever.
Today there are battles that go on - away from the cameras and the front pages - it is a fight to make old battlegrounds a safe place for future generations.
To that end, 12 Marines and one Navy Corpsman have been spending the last three months inerting thousands of unexploded ordnances, and doing it in a way that is safe for the environment and will have a lasting impact on the EOD community.
The Marines, members of Marine Wing Support Squadrons 271 and 274 from MCAS, Cherry Point, North Carolina and 273 from MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina along with members of 2nd Platoon 2nd Force Service Support Group, of Camp Lejeune North Carolina, are supporting the U.S. Army's and SFOR's efforts to make the Balkans a safer place.
The leathernecks have been taking thousands of live explosives such as landmines and rocket-propelled grenades and turning them into realistic training aides.
"Real ordnance will give individuals more confidence rather than training with plastic models," said Capt Kelvin Dudenhoeffer, the unit's officer in charge. "Once our mission is complete the Army will be sending training kits to the EOD school and all the service EODs who desire them," he added.
Each branch of the U.S. military has their own EOD, however, the Marines are the only ones who are equipped with a deployable system to inert explosives in an environmentally safe manner.
"We inert the ordnance by disabling the fuze and removing the explosive material," said Dudenhoeffer. "We then reassemble the item as it was for students and other EOD technicians to use. Finally, we dispose of the explosive in an environmentally safe method," he added.
Although the process may sound simple, the first challenge comes in trying to identify one of the most crucial parts of the ordnance - the fuze.
Just prior to leaving for this mission the Marines received a new piece of gear that has made a world of difference in the manner and speed of their fuze identification process, a computerized X-ray machine.
"We barely had time to take this new computerized X-ray machine out of it's box before we came here," said CWO-2 Robert Hayworth, the team's assistant officer in charge. "The X-ray is often the first step in determining the type of fuze in an explosive. We used to take the X-ray and have to wait for the film to be developed, but now it's on the computer instantly and we can see what we are up against," said Hayworth.
To understand what they are up against one only needs to look at the multitude of explosives laying on one of the workbenches. Many look the same and have the same or similar markings, however, somewhere along the way warring sides changed the rules and created their own "homemade" style of fuzes.
Once they know what they are up against, the next step is taking the fuze apart. The Marines use precision lathes, which are manipulated by two long poles behind the safety of a blast proof window, 10 feet away. The tiny fuze is drilled out, sometimes with a "bang" as evident by the marks on the drills and the blast window.
The next step in the process is the removal and disposal of the explosives themselves, using a system that was developed in several years ago by EOD Marines. It uses steam to melt the explosives out of ordnance. A 5-gallon container catches the TNT like residue. What's not caught goes into washout tanks with filters and several 55-gallon drums of activated charcoal. The filtered water finally goes into clean water tanks, which according to Dudenhoeffer, has been tested and labeled clean enough to drink.
"In addition to being environmentally safe, the explosive washout system (EWOS), is a closed system so the water gets recycled back into the system," said Hayworth. "This system, which is made up of off-the-shelf merchandise, has been constantly improved upon by the ingenuity of the Marines who use it. It is also a man-portable system which can be taken to any part of the globe," he added.
The peanut brittle like explosive residue is buried in a sand pit, which is surrounded by old tires, and blown up. The tires (more remnants of the war), used to be an eye sore and an environmental problem, now they are used to absorb the sound and debris from the detonations - thus part of the solution.
"What the Marines have done here is build a facility which should be used as a model of an environmentally friendly system anywhere in the world," said Robert Luther, Environmental Protection Officer, for the Army's Task Force Eagle.
The final evolution in the process is to reassemble the explosives, document its characteristics and package it as a training kit for future use.
The Marines realize the importance of their mission from a humanitarian perspective, but MGySgt Max Dlugosh, who has been an EOD technician for more than 25 years, sees the added benefits of this mission.
"These Marines are gaining confidence and learning new and improved methods of rendering an explosive safe," said Dlugosh. "They are learning some fine details which will allow them to make a better decision back in another community. What they and others will learn from these kits will have a lasting impact on future EOD missions," he added.
"When people think of EOD the first thing that usually comes to mind is blowing things up," said Hayworth. "But on the contrary we like to try and keep things from blowing up. In this mission some of these young Marines are gaining five or six years worth of EOD training and experience."
The EWOS system, which has been in place since 1994, had never been deployed outside the U.S., according to Dudenhoffer. However, this deployment has validated its usefulness and effectiveness as an expeditionary system.
Interest in how the Marines are doing business has been far reaching. In addition to the U.S. EOD personnel interested in obtaining some of the finished products, the Russians and French are just two of the many visitors the Marines have had.
"I have been working with the University of Sarajevo to set up a forum for exchange of ideas on how to make the Balkans safer," said Luther. "During the war some of the university professors where making these explosives in their basements, so they not only have useful knowledge but are also eager to dispose of their deadly creations."
The Marines and professors are expected to meet during the first week of December. Following that meeting and an extensive lessons learned session with the Army the Marines will pack their bags and return home just in time for the holiday season.
In some small way they take with them the gratification that they have made a difference in a land far away. Their dedication and efforts may be the key to some child in the Balkans having a safer playground for years to come and a better chance at a normal life. However, closer to home what they have accomplished may one day make the difference for an EOD technician when he takes on one of the worlds deadliest remnants of war.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Between the time the writer visited the Marines and the publishing of this story the EOD detachment suffered an unfortunate accident which severely injured three of the Marines.
On the afternoon of November 28, an explosive that CWO-2 Robert Hayworth was working on detonated. The blast left Hayworth in critical condition with severe damage to his left hand and arm, his stomach, rupture ear drum and shrapnel throughout. His current situation is stable with potential loss of fingers on his left hand.
Also injured was GySgt Richard O'Connell who also suffered severe damage to his left hand and arm, and internal and external shrapnel wounds. They both have been medically evacuated to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C., for further surgery and rehabilitation.
The third person injured was Capt Kelvin Dudenhoeffer who suffered a fractured wrist and shrapnel injuries. He remained with the unit and will return with the group.
It is important to note that all individuals received immediate medical care from their independent duty corpsman, HM1 Zachary Hare, before being medivaced to the Tuzla Army Medical Center. According to the U.S. Army doctors who initially treated the Marines, Hare was instrumental in providing essential lifesaving care.