EOD disposes of Civil War-era cannonball

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Frank Casciotta
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  It's not every day the 482nd Explosive Ordinance Disposal Flight gets called in to dispose of 150-year-old military ordnance, but that's exactly what happened on Feb. 1.

A Pinecrest, Florida, man inherited a house from his father who died recently and discovered a civil war-era cannonball on display. Knowing the cannonball could be dangerous, the man called the Pinecrest Police Department, who in turn called in the 482nd EOD.

"Some people do not realize that cannonballs are not just steel balls," said Tech. Sgt. Russell Richard, the 482nd EOD team leader who recovered the cannonball. "They are hollowed out and filled with gunpowder. In this case it was roughly 2 pounds of it."

When these types of cannonballs explode they can blast steel fragments more than 2,000 feet.

"Another thing people may not know is that black powder becomes more dangerous as it ages," said Richard. "As it dries out over time, it becomes more susceptible to ignition. Just pouring or shifting it could generate enough static electricity to ignite it and cause an explosion."

The man who inherited the house said that his father dug up the cannonball while doing yard work and decided to keep it as a souvenir.

"According to the police officer who called us in, this particular area in Pinecrest was once part of a firing range for the Navy," said Richard. "That is likely how it ended up in his yard."

After recovering the unexploded ordnance, the 482nd EOD team brought it back to base and used an X-ray machine and confirmed that it was still live.

"When we dispose of ordnance, we utilize demolition explosives to initiate the unexploded ordnance," said Tech. Sgt. Steven Kaufman, the 482nd EOD NCO in charge of training and publications. "To do that, we position our charge to mitigate the fragmentation of the ordnance and ensure public safety. In this case, we blew it downward to keep the fragments contained within our protective works."

Having never worked with Civil War-era military ordnance before, Richard said he learned a lot from the experience.