Re: Mines 8 (!)

Not that I'm an engineer expert or anything but there is a particular
breed
of engineer called EOD, that receives training in dealing with that sort
of
stuff.	Sure regular engineers are trained to recover the mines that
they
laid, but at least in peacetime anything trickier is left to EOD. Though
they might learn a bit more in the engineer advanced NCO course. (there
is
an advanced engineer course that I read about where you learn more high
speed stuff, but maybe there's a 12B on the list taht can shed some
light on
it. Of course in wartime you get everyone and their mother tinkering
with
stuff if need be, sometimes unsuccessfully. :(

Still the safest and quickest way to deal with unexploded ordnance and
mines
are to blow them in place. Even on the range if someone tosses a grenade
that doesn't go off, the official answer is to blow it in place with a
peice
of C4 in the US Army.

John Skelly wrote:

> So as an American engineer you are not trained in any other way than
> blowing in place?  Is that the same for booby traps and the like? 
What
> doctrine must you follow if you lack explosives?
>
> Are regular force engineers taught more than national guard units?
>
> I only had a couple of opportunities to work with US forces so I'm
real
> curious.
>
> Thanks
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: jatkins6@ix.netcom.com [SMTP:jatkins6@ix.netcom.com]
> > Sent: Friday, May 15, 1998 10:59 PM
> > To:   FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> > Subject:	  RE: Mines 8 (!)
> >
> > You wrote:
> >
> > >Canadian engineers are trained to disarm enemy mines.  In fact so
are
> > >Canadian infantry.  As well, whenever they go to a specific theatre
> > they >get trained on disarming mines that may be found there.
> >
> > Including AHDs and what not?  Not my particular piece of pie.  Go
for
> > it.  Just warn me so I'm out of blast radius.  Playing games with
> > foreign mines that might be boobytrapped or worse is not my idea of
> > fun.
> >
> > Reminds me of the first US casualty in Bosnia.  This was an E-7, so
he
> >
> > should have known better.  Tried to disarm a mine with a Leatherman.
> > They found it embedded in his skull.  In my book, he deserves it for
> > gross stupidity.
> >
> > John M. Atkinson