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Mineral Wells,
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13 MINERAL WELLS,
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K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
2
Mineral Wells,
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2
3 MR. CONDIKE: Thanks for coming out
4 tonight on such a inhospitable evening. I'm Brian
5 Condike.
I'm with the Army Corps of Engineers in Fort
6 Worth.
7 We're here tonight to say a few
words
8 about the former
9 about its history and how ordnance that was
used on the
10 camp back in the forties and later might have
impacted
11 upon the community these days.
12 I'd like to introduce some of
the folks
13 that are with me tonight assisting me.
14 Bill Sargent, he's with our
15 Center of expertise on ordnance and
explosives --
16
17 Elliot Adler, he's a project
manager with
18 our contractor out in Tennessee, EOD
Technologies, Inc.
19 Mr. Sites, he's with our
20 Center also.
21 Bill Pierce, he's also with our
22 contractor out of
23 Robin Wells, who greeted you at
the door,
24 she's with our contractor.
25 Jason Burton, he's from
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
3
Mineral Wells,
1 a technical manager.
2 And Dwayne Ford, he's with me
in the Fort
3 Worth District Corps of Engineers.
4 Thanks for coming tonight.
5 I'll stand up here so I get out
of your
6 way.
7 All right. This camp is part of
8 something called Formerly Used Defense Sites
Programs.
9 There are over 9,000 properties
in the
10
11 by the Department of Defense in some
manner. And the
12 Congress Corps of Engineers is the executive
agents in
13 charge of cleaning up these sites whether
because of
14 chemical contamination or mold building on it
or
15 possibly an ordnance problem.
16 The process we go through in
studying
17 these sites is a three-step process.
18 First is the inventory
phase. We do an
19 inventory report where we determine whether
the site was
20 used by the Department of Defense. And if there was an
21 ordnance involved, we will do something
called an
22 Archives Search Report.
23 Our historians in
24 all the military archives and gather
information and
25 write a very detailed report about what the
activities
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
4
Mineral Wells,
1 were on the base and how that effects
possible ordnance.
2 The second step is an
investigation
3 phase.
That's where we are right now.
We're performing
4 this engineering evaluation/cost
analysis. That's an
5 investigation where we actually go out on the
site and
6 walk the properties and inspect them visually
and take
7 metal-detector equipment and try to see what
we can find
8 beneath the surface.
9 After we've done that we'll
write a
10 decision document where we decide what we're
going to do
11 about the situation and then we'll take some
sort of
12 response action.
13 The history of the site is it
started in
14 1925 with the Texas National Guard used about
2300
15 acres.
And then along came World War II and the Army
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came in and picked up that property plus another 20,000
17 acres or so in two locations. You saw the maps back
18 there.
The main camp is a 20,000-acre piece of property
19 and then there was another 3,000 acres to the
west
20 called Baker's Hollow.
21 In 1951 it was turned in the
Wolters Air
22 Force Base, at least a portion of it
was. The
23 Engineering Aviation units came up here from
the Air
24 Force.
25 In 1956 it was redesignated
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
5
Mineral Wells,
1 again and became the Army primary helicopter
and
2 training school.
3 In 1959 there was a certain period where
4 we had a Nike missile silo base here.
5 And by 1974 to the present the
6 National Guard has taken over a portion of
the property.
7 We've got some historical photos. This
8 is an obstacle course. See the soldiers climbing up
9 this wooden structure, having a high old
time, playing
10 king of the mountain there, May 1945.
11 This is an area called Hell's
Bottom. We
12 actually know where this is now. You can see how it was
13 all muddy and in a low area. You can see the posts
14 around here and circular structures that were
used for
15 training.
16 This is an upclose photo of
that showing
17 the soldiers crawling on their bellies going
through
18 these training areas, exercise areas.
19 This is one of the small arms
firing
20 ranges.
We know there were several of those out there.
21 This is a couple of soldiers
posing for
22 bayonet training. The photo is kind of interesting.
23 The dummies actually have little glasses on
them and
24 they're kind of made up to look like Japanese
soldiers.
25 This was a Japanese
village. They
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
6
Mineral Wells,
1 practiced house to house fighting.
2 Here some soldiers posing --
working with
3 60 millimeter mortars. We know those -- this type of
4 ordnance -- or 81 millimeter mortars, we know
this type
5 of ordnance was used there.
6 And this is a pill box that
they would
7 use for attacking a fortified position,
training that
8 sort of thing.
9 This is called a two-story
Japanese style
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bunker. Generally, was known as
Hell's Bottom Barnes,
11 Captain Barnes.
12 This is area you can see the
two areas of
13 the 20,000-acre piece and that's the 3,000
acre, a
14 larger view of that. The state park is in the middle.
15 Now this drawing shows the
different
16 properties.
The red outline, which goes like this, was
17 the original property that the Army bought,
along with
18 this.
19 Later on, they expanded
it. They added
20 this area over here called Pinto Ridge and
they added
21 this area over here called Penitentiary
Hollow and Dry
22 Valley.
23 When the Air Force came in they didn't
24 use all that property. They only used this yellow
25 outlined area.
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
7
Mineral Wells,
1 The National Guard uses -- now
has a
2 U-shaped, upside down U-shaped portion. It looks like
3 this with a finger of the state park poking
up in the
4 middle.
5 That's what the National Guard
has right
6 now.
7 Back when it was helicopter
training
8 school it had a series of heliports. I think there were
9 three of those and they had 25 of these
helicopter
10 staging areas. And you can see on this map of the
11 20,000-acre area, there's only three staging
areas and
12 one heliport and that's because they were
spread out
13 over a much larger area.
14 This is the camp. You can see these
15
triangles. These are all the
helicopter staging areas.
16 They're spread out over a 700,000-acre area
over four or
17 five counties.
18 This map shows -- these red
areas here,
19 these are firing ranges. We have old maps that show
20 where the plan on the base was for the firing
ranges.
21 Now, during World War II the
training
22 units didn't always follow the plans of the
Army.
23 Sometimes they would train in places where
there were no
24 designated ranges. We've got a clearance document
25 signed by the range officer that says, Pinto
Ridge area
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES -
(817) 810-0244
8
Mineral Wells,
1 right here, there was never any live ordnance
used in
2 that area.
Well, two years ago -- a year and a half
3 ago, we cleared out over 100 hand grenades
from that
4 area right there, all live.
5 So the records aren't always
accurate.
6 That's why we have to come down and
physically look at
7 the site and do personal investigation
because we can't
8 trust the archives.
9 The investigation phase has
several steps
10 to it.
First is the Historical Photo Analysis, which
11 some of you were looking at some of the
historical
12 photos that we have.
13 The Army's topographic
engineering center
14 in
15 series of old aerial photos from starting in
1943 all
16 the way up to 1995 and they examine these
areas of
17 interest with a magnifying glass to try to
determine
18 features that might indicate there was
military training
19 activity or ordnance use.
20 This is an area that several of
you were
21 interested in. You were looking at the photos. This is
22 Marsden Road, an east-west road up in the
northwest
23 portion of the old camp.
24 This is
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
9
Mineral Wells,
1 This is a 1948 aerial
photo. This is
3 over here.
When we blow that up it looks like this area
4 over here was an old grenade course -- or
hand grenade
5 training area.
6 There were all sorts of
structures on the
7 sites, berms, that indicate there was
firing positions
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and training activity there.
9 This is the area, again,
there's Marsden
10 Road, there's
11 wasn't there at the time. This is prior to that road
12 being constructed. This is the field where we found the
13 130 hand grenades a year and a half ago, so
there was
14 some activity there, firing positions,
vehicles parked
15 on the
road here, vehicle tracks. These are the
types
16 of information they get from magnifying these
photos and
17 right next to that to the east is another
firing range.
18 You see all these detailed
structures
19 below ground and some mounds, these are
either firing
20 positions or places for targets, either
firing positions
21 or targets over here as well.
22 The same general area just to
the west of
23 the grenade course, there was this berm, this
mound of
24 dirt, 1500 feet long, which is probably a
backstop for
25 target practice, probably small arms that
they were
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
10
Mineral Wells,
1 standing over here and shooting at this
target here.
2 This is that area with all of
those
3 features on it so we can see all the activity
that was
4 going on in that area in 1948.
5 This is those same areas on a
1995 aerial
6 photo, more recently. Here you can see
7 is there now.
It wasn't before.
8 This is just to the
southeast. This is
9 Marsden Road over here. This is the Nike/Hercules
10 missile battery over here.
11 The county line goes right
through here
12 like that. The launch control facility is
over here. It
13 was usually quite a distance away. So here we have an
14 instance where the missiles were launched
here and in
15 the next county they actually controlled them
over here.
16 I'd like Bill to come up here
and talk
17 about the ordnance because he's an ordnance
guy.
18 Bill Sargent from our
19 MR. SARGENT: Some of the ordnance that
20 was used -- of course,
21 II divisional training or infantry or
placement center,
22 we would expect to find any type of ordnance
that the
23 Army Infantry was using back in the World War
II era.
24 The other thing that comes to
mind after
25
that is that afterwards we had the Air Force base or
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
11
Mineral Wells,
1 base defense forces using that and those guys
trained
2 with -- their primary mission was airfield
repair,
3 facility repair and then they had based
defense missions
4 in the Air Force units. And they would have used like
5 machine guns, mortars, and probably coreless
rifles as a
6 primary weapon of defense.
7 And then, of course, the Army
came in
8 later with the helicopter training
school. And a lot of
9 stuff we've heard now is that there weren't
any ranges
10 here for training them. They did their primary flight
11 training here and there weren't any
ranges. They went
12 to other places like Fort (inaudible),
13 their range training with the helicopters
thing, but
14 that remains to be seen because we found some
ammunition
15 that was found out there that we don't know
where that
16 came from.
It was washed out in the stuff.
So we're
17 not really sure and we'll find out once we
get out on
18 the ground.
19 The ordnance that was used in
Camp
20 Wolters, of course, small arms ammunition are
21 traditional, .30 caliber, your .45-caliber
pistol, your
22 machine gun, .50 caliber stuff, your projectiles
and we
23 had the anti-tank gun, which was a 37
millimeter. This
24 is a 37 right here that came out of
25
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
12
Mineral Wells,
1 these out here. We find some that are target practice,
2 just solid shot. We find some that, back then they were
3 called high explosives, now they are really a
low
4 explosive, filled with black powder and then
we have the
5 high explosive rounds too.
6 And these things, because of
the fusing,
7 we don't touch these things. We just take care of them
8 right where they are at. The fusing on these -- these
9 guys don't play with these things.
10 We also have anti-tank
mines. Most of
11 the mines that we find are inert training
mines, but
12 sometimes we do a spotting charge or some
type of marker
13 charge that was left in them. They can hurt you.
14 And then the grenades, rifle
hand
15 grenades, everybody seems to find -- I think
we have
16 pictures, so anyways these are the types of
things that
17 we have, the rockets, the mortars, the
practice bombs,
18 potentially, I don't know if we have those
here or not.
19 We do have them on some sites and we never
know where
20
we're going to find these things with the Air Force
21 dropping them.
22 And then maybe 155 millimeter
23 projectiles.
24 These are the old pineapple
grenades, the
25 Mark II hand grenades. Of course, this one here the top
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
13
Mineral Wells,
1 is corroded away, but this one here still has
the pin
2 and the spoon with it. They make people very nervous
3 when they see them like that because they
don't have all
4 these things that have corroded. You know, all you need
5 to do is have that thing pop and she's ready
to go.
6 These are the ones we found at
the
7 removal action. I think it was done up on Ledbetter
8 Road, but we find these on training grenade
ranges, and
9 again, they tried to clear these sites when
they did
10 this clearance stuff, but a lot of these were
in ravines
11 and areas that got covered up with brush and
so we would
12 traditionally find either the hand grenade
still laying
13 out here or defuses or parts of those things
like that,
14 so grenade ranges are of a particular
interest to us.
15 This is a 57 millimeter. It's a larger,
16 just like the 37, more of an anti-tank type
gun.
17 Most of the ones we find are solid shot but
they do have
18 high explosives out there, so we let the
experts like
19 Elliot, those guys who have been through the
bomb
20 disposal EOD school, they take a
determination and they
21 look at it and then some of the things they
can't tell.
22 They just said, you know, we're going to take
this and
23 we're going to blow it, we're not going to
risk it.
24 These are 2.36 inch rockets or
bazooka
25 rounds as they are traditionally known, both
of these
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
14
Mineral Wells,
1 were at
2
3
4 This one's got the nosepiece
knocked off
5 of it.
You just see a little piece of steel rod. This
6 is a practice round. That's the only way you can tell
7 this is practice is if the nose is gone and
that steel
8 rod is sitting in there. Otherwise, when they find them
9 like this, we cannot tell if it's a live one
or
10 practice.
We certainly treat every one of those as a
11 live until they knock it apart with an
explosive chart.
12 These are dangerous. If they didn't
13 impact something and they're a live round,
because of
14 the fusing on them, it wouldn't take much to
drop one of
15 these things and it could potentially
function. It was
16 an anti-tank weapon.
17 The mortar rounds. Here are 60
18 millimeter mortar rounds, 81, bigger, shaped
a little
19 bit
differently like that, but again we're finding a lot
20 of these.
At
21 coming out of
22 Again, with the fusing on those
things,
23 you know, they hit the ground, they don't
function,
24 they're stuck in the ground, you know, we
don't know,
25 just might take the right pressure stepping
on them to
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
15
Mineral Wells,
1 make them function, so, again, we just don't
like
2 fooling with these things either. They find them, they
3 make them go away right where they're at.
4 And then these 105 millimeter
artillery
5 projectile.
This is what was the main gun by the end of
6 World War II.
We find a lot of these that they hit the
7 ground and the fuse broke off or for some
reason they
8 didn't function, so they're out there.
9 If they fired 105s out
here for
10 training, those are laying out there
somewhere. They
11 just have a certain amount that just didn't
function.
12 These are the training mines I
was
13 telling you about. These are the all empty. You can
14 see this -- they don't have anything in
them. This one
15 has come apart, kind of the inside. But, again, we do
16 find them with the fuses, these left with a
little
17 plunger sticking out of them. Sometimes they're
18 actually mine fuse, which carry a healthy
charge on
19 them, but that one's just a spotting charge,
just to
20 make a smoke for the guys for it to go
off. They lay
21 these out.
Wherever infantry trains, they put these
22 out.
This is standard fair, they layed them out, they
23 buried them and they walked off and left them
and we
24
find them everywhere we go.
25 The only place we have ever
found any,
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
16
Mineral Wells,
1 that I know of, think full up, but were not
these types
2 of mines, they had ceramic mines that we have
found at
3 Camp (inaudible) up in
4 fuse, so they were a special type of mine
that they were
5 using there.
I guess when they buried them they
6
couldn't find them because they were nonmetallic. But
7 we haven't seen any of those anywhere else
yet.
8 In 1946 the Army came through
after all
9 these camps and tried to clean them as best
they could.
10 They cleaned the targets that they knew
of. They
11 cleaned where they knew the ordnance was
being used at.
12 You can see here that they picked up a lot of
pounds of
13 ordnance scraps and a lot of ordnance items.
14 The Air Force came through in
1952 and
15 did some clearance.
16 In 1975 the Army came through
and did
17 some more clearance and probably after
18
19 is the thing that Brian was talking about,
the live
20 grenades out on
21 The Army when they were
clearing these
22 things they did the best that they
could. They were
23 taking POWs, they were using troops that were
getting
24 out.
They'd put them on line and they walk across these
25 areas and guys would mark these things and
then they
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244
17
Mineral Wells,
1 have bomb disposal and police it up and
detonate them.
2 These guys did not dig for anything. If it was visible
3 on the surface, that's what they went after. They
4 didn't dig for anything. So anything below ground they
5 would have bypassed it. They wouldn't have been looking
6 for it.
7 Traditionally, they did not go
into the
8 ravines, heavily wooded areas. You know, if the weather
9 was bad they might not get out to some areas
so we take
10 it with a grain of salt, the clearance
documents that we
11 do get, they say that they've cleared it, but
a lot of
12 times they put areas they recommended for
surface use
13 only and impact areas, never assuming that,
you know, 60
14 years from then that it would be developed
like it is
15 now and people living out here during --
because they
16 were looking at
17 you know, people are situated here, but very
few people
18 are living out, well, that's all changing
now. So the
19 clearances were done to the best of their
ability with
20 what technology would let them do at that
time, but
21 obviously it wasn't adequate enough because
we're
22 getting a lot of stuff coming out of these
sites now.
23 This is showing a collection of
pellets
24 weighing over 298 pounds.
25 MR. CONDIKE: That's showing that they
K.C. DEBUSK, CSR
DOLORES STEWART & ASSOCIATES - (817) 810-0244