MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 ordnance built 12 500-pound inert bombs here April 20 in support of Foal Eagle 2010.
The bombs will be delivered to Kadena Air Base where Marine Attack Squadron 311 will use them for training purposes.
The inert bombs are used to simulate the same ballistic properties of service bombs, and the primary purpose of the bombs is to provide safety when training new or inexperienced pilots and ground-handling crews.
Other advantages of inert bombs include the low cost and increased available target locations. The four-man ordnance team built the bombs by attaching conical fins to solid concrete blue bodies.
The conical fins help stabilize the bomb in flight, allowing the bomb to exhibit the effects of low drag and stabilization after the bomb is released from the aircraft.
The process may seem somewhat simple, but without the ordnance team, exercises like Foal Eagle would not be possible.
“Without the ordnance (Military Occupational Specialty), there’s no point in flying aircraft,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Ross, an aviation ordnanceman and the quality assurance safety observer for the MALS-12 maintenance section. “If you can’t drop bombs, then all you are is a reconnaissance plane. In my opinion, we’re one of the most important jobs in the aviation community.”
The crew was only building practice bombs, but they kept safety in the forefront of their minds throughout the entire buildup.
“These bombs are inert, but as ordnancemen we treat every piece of ordnance as if it were live,” said Ross. “There are a lot of safety precautions, one being that we’re handling very heavy objects, so you need to make sure that everything is being handled properly and everything’s being done in a safe matter.”
“It really is a life or death matter,” said Lance Cpl. Justin Carter, a basic ordnanceman. “The way you handle the ordnance is very important whether it’s live or not.”
Whether building something small or large, the team takes each project just as seriously as any other bomb buildup.
“Our job is to support the squadron,” said Carter. “So whether it’s a small buildup like it was today or a (high explosive) buildup, we do what we have to and we get the job done.”