Removal Of Unexploded Ordnance Research Articles

A Unique Emotional Surgery: Removal of Unexploded Ordnance in a Patient With Vascular Injury.

Cases of embedded unexploded ordnance are extremely rare and pose a risk to bystanders and health providers. A patient arrived at the Role 2 medical facility in the Turkish army, whose left arm was amputated due to a terrorist attack and major hemorrhages had been halted by clamping of the left subclavian artery and vein. A piece of metal wire running from the lateral chest wall was detected as an unexploded ordnance piece and it was removed surgically. In these challenging cases, safety principles should be acknowledged. Highlighting the basic precautions is important for similar scenarios and increases awareness of the utmost importance.

Аналіз методів та засобів комп’ютерного зору для мобільних систем пошуку вибухонебезпечних предметів

The detection and removal of unexploded ordnance and landmines are vital for ensuring civil-ian safety, enabling the repurposing of affected land, and supporting post-conflict recovery ef-forts. Robotization plays a pivotal role in addressing the hazardous and labor-intensive nature of demining operations. The purpose of this paper is to review prominent computer vision tech-niques, particularly object detection, and analyze their applications in the specialized domain of explosive ordnance detection. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to explore the utilization of computer vision in the field of explosive ordnance detection. The study in-volved a comparative analysis of diverse imaging sensors employed for data capture. Special at-tention was given to reviewing sources that elaborate on different methods for detecting objects within the field of computer vision. Various approaches to object detection were thoroughly examined and compared. The research extensively examined the metrics and datasets used to evaluate different approaches for object detection. Possibilities of applying computer vision methods to detect explosive ordnance under the limitations of mobile platforms were studied. Directions of future research are formulated.

Management of an Unexploded Intracorporeal Firework in a Low Resource Setting: Case Report and Tips.

Surgical removal of unexploded ordnance has been described in literature, usually in the context of the military. We describe a case of a 31-year-old gentleman who presented with a traumatic fireworks injury resulting in an unexploded three-inch aerial shell lodged in his left upper thigh. The sole regional Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) expert was not available, so a local pyrotechnic engineer was contacted and he helped in identification of the firework. The firework was removed without the use of electrocautery, irrigation, or metal instrument contact after skin incision. The patient recovered well after prolonged wound healing. Creativity needs to be employed in low resource settings to identify all available resources that can impart knowledge when medical training is not enough. People with knowledge of explosives can be, as in our case, local pyrotechnics engineer or can be local cannon enthusiasts, veterans, or active military personnel at a nearby military base.

After the Typhoon: Multicultural Archaeologies of World War II on Peleliu, Palau, Micronesia

In the autumn of 1944, one of the worst battles of the Pacific War took place between the Americans and Japanese on the small Micronesian island of Peleliu in the Palau group. Over more than two months of combat, its garrison fought almost literally to the last man, while US casualties were proportionately among the heaviest of the entire war. Afterwards largely overlooked in the public consciousness, the battlefield is now the best preserved of the Pacific theatre and is the subject of an extensive archaeological survey, coupled with a programme of large-scale unexploded ordnance removal. This paper is the second of two, following our previous publication summarizing the more conventional results of the fieldwork. Here, we instead explore the deeper ways in which the material culture of Peleliu can illuminate the multicultural histories of the fighting and thus enable the battlefield to stand as a lasting, reflective memorial to all those whose lives it touched. We address the neglected narratives of the Japanese, the Korean and Okinawan forced labourers, and also the marginalized members of the US forces including African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. In particular, we attempt to bring out the indigenous perspective on the material heritage of an imported and deeply alien war. In combination, we hope the research can provide new theoretical avenues of exploration for the archaeology of battlefields.

Lessons Learnt from An Evaluation of An Unexploded Ordnance Removal Program in Lao PDR

The purpose of this article is to describe lessons learnt when the first author, an ‘outsider’, was undertaking a theory-based, mixed-methods evaluation of an unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance program in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The lessons learnt comprised: 1) issues related to using a theory-based mixed-methods evaluation design; 2) contextualising languages, meaning and translation; and 3) cultural interpretation of ethical issues. Finally, it is proposed that reflexivity is an essential quality that evaluators need to develop in order to manage such challenges.

US Rapprochement with Laos and Cambodia: A Response

Professor Thayer cites three main areas of cooperation that have influenced US rapprochement with Laos: Missing Action/ Prisoner of War (MIA/POW) issue, reduction of opium production and counter-terrorism. As he rightly contends, MIA issue remains at top of America's agenda Laos. To date, 240 sets of remains of American service personnel have been found and identified; search, led by US teams with Lao logistical support, for a further 355 MIAs continues. (1) Positive collaboration on this issue has unquestionably helped to improve relations between two countries. However, another legacy--unexploded ordnance (UXO)--of war constitutes a greater concern for Lao government. In 2009, United States committed around $5 million to UXO clearance and training programmes. Though funding represents one of largest US aid budgets Laos that year and an increase from previous year's $3.5 million, it still falls short of what is required. As recently as July 2010, a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a group of former US Ambassadors to Laos called on United States to make an annual commitment of $10 million over next ten years for UXO removal Laos. It may well be true that Laos agreed to cooperate with US on MIA issue order to get latter's assistance to clear country's rural areas of UXO, although one may argue that Laos has moral right to request this help. From 1964 to 1973 US aircraft dropped over two million tons of ordnance during nearly 600,000 bombing missions over country. (2) At end of war, it was estimated that 78 million unexploded cluster bomblets littered country's rural areas. (3) A recent survey by National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for UXO/Mine Action sector Laos indicates that some 50,000 people were maimed or killed by UXO between 1964 and 2008. (4) Counter-narcotics operations also remain a US priority Laos. With significant decline of opium cultivation, flow of, and addiction to, methamphetamines and amphetamines have emerged as another front US anti-drugs struggle Laos, though country is considered less as a site of production than as a pivotal transit area between Myanmar, Thailand and China. On other hand, counter-terrorism, another US priority Southeast Asia, is unlikely to generate much opportunity for cooperation between two countries: Laos is not known for being a place of shelter for individuals or groups that may be classified as terrorists or having international terrorist connections. In other words, United States does not have to devote many resources to cover Laos its global campaign against terrorism. Professor Thayer cites three sources of international influence on Lao regime: western countries and development agencies; international organizations; and China and Vietnam. With regard to Lao foreign policy, these sources are not of equal weight. Vietnam and China are, by far, Laos' closest political allies. Despite recurrent comments by foreign analysts on Sino-Vietnamese rivalry Laos, it seems exaggerated that Vietnam would encourage Laos to develop relations with US in order to counter increasing Chinese influence. In foreign policy, Vietnam has made remarkable progress since early 1990s, emerging from US embargo and international isolation to establish diplomatic and economic relations with many partners, including international organizations. However, regime's leaders--in particular within conservative circles--remain suspicious of US diplomatic and strategic intentions region, and, like Lao leadership, wary of the plot of peaceful evolution. It is therefore doubtful that Vietnamese would consider US as alternative influence to China such a close (both geographical and political terms) neighbouring country as Laos. More likely, Vietnamese regime supports Laos developing friendly relations with US (as with other developed countries) so as to ensure a stable regional environment conducive to economic growth and development. …

LEGACIES OF WAR

In this article nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers Channapha Khamvongsa and Elaine Russell discuss the massive illegal U.S. bombing of Laos between 1964 and 1973 and its lingering human, economic, and ecological toll. They survey the history of foreign intervention in Laos, with special emphasis on the cold war-era civil war and U.S. intervention. The authors describe continuing civilian casualties and obstacles to development posed by unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos, and detail current efforts for UXO removal. The authors propose a formal reconciliation process between the United States and Laos in which the U.S. government would accept responsibility for the long-term effects of the bombing and the governments would cooperate with NGOs and the United Nations in a transparent process to fund UXO removal.

Use of principal component images for classification of the EM response of unexploded ordnance

The location and identification of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is a major challenge for environmental rehabilitation of former military firing ranges and bombing target areas. EM methods are in widespread use for the location of metal objects, however the presence of large quantities of scrap metal from successful detonation of munitions makes discrimination between munitions and scrap and munitions of various sizes a necessity in order for efficient location, digging and removal of UXOs to proceed. Several recent papers show that detailed three-component EM measurements followed by inversion to dipole moments of an EM target is effective in characterising a target, however such techniques require precise data, usually from stationary data acquisition. EM data acquired from a moving ground platform for UXO detection is typically high in motion-induced noise which limits the usefulness of decay-curve analysis in target characterization. We use a data set from the Australian Air Force Newholme UXO Test Range, Armidale, NSW, and show that a) images of time-window data are unsuccessful in discriminating between different types of munitions, b) adaptive decay index methods are ineffective due to high noise levels on the observed decay curves, and c) principal-component transforms of the data are successful in differentiating between different types of munitions. The method provides a tool for initial classification and prioritization of anomalies from a surveyed area, thus facilitating preparation of an efficient program of follow-up surveys and site clean-up.

Explosion Probability of Unexploded Ordnance: Expert Beliefs

This article reports on a study to quantify expert beliefs about the explosion probability of unexploded ordnance (UXO). Some 1,976 sites at closed military bases in the United States are contaminated with UXO and are slated for cleanup, at an estimated cost of $15-140 billion. Because no available technology can guarantee 100% removal of UXO, information about explosion probability is needed to assess the residual risks of civilian reuse of closed military bases and to make decisions about how much to invest in cleanup. This study elicited probability distributions for the chance of UXO explosion from 25 experts in explosive ordnance disposal, all of whom have had field experience in UXO identification and deactivation. The study considered six different scenarios: three different types of UXO handled in two different ways (one involving children and the other involving construction workers). We also asked the experts to rank by sensitivity to explosion 20 different kinds of UXO found at a case study site at Fort Ord, California. We found that the experts do not agree about the probability of UXO explosion, with significant differences among experts in their mean estimates of explosion probabilities and in the amount of uncertainty that they express in their estimates. In three of the six scenarios, the divergence was so great that the average of all the expert probability distributions was statistically indistinguishable from a uniform (0, 1) distribution-suggesting that the sum of expert opinion provides no information at all about the explosion risk. The experts' opinions on the relative sensitivity to explosion of the 20 UXO items also diverged. The average correlation between rankings of any pair of experts was 0.41, which, statistically, is barely significant (p= 0.049) at the 95% confidence level. Thus, one expert's rankings provide little predictive information about another's rankings. The lack of consensus among experts suggests that empirical studies are needed to better understand the explosion risks of UXO.

Removal of Unexploded Ordnance

Impalement by an unexploded round is a rare event during surgery in combat environments. These are usually caused by large caliber, high-velocity projectiles. Patients who survive to arrive at a treatment facility must be triaged safely, and treated appropriately to save both the life of the patient and the treatment team. Since WWII, there have been 35 reported cases that were treated successfully. Optimal outcomes require a basic knowledge of explosives and triggering mechanisms, as well as adherence to basic principles of trauma resuscitation and surgery. Most importantly, these cases require flexibility, determination, and ingenuity.

Delineating high-density areas in spatial Poisson fields from strip-transect sampling using indicator geostatistics: Application to unexploded ordnance removal

An approach for delineating high anomaly density areas within a mixture of two or more spatial Poisson fields based on limited sample data collected along strip transects was developed. All sampled anomalies were transformed to anomaly count data and indicator kriging was used to estimate the probability of exceeding a threshold value derived from the cdf of the background homogeneous Poisson field. The threshold value was determined so that the delineation of high-density areas was optimized. Additionally, a low-pass filter was applied to the transect data to enhance such segmentation. Example calculations were completed using a controlled military model site, in which accurate delineation of clusters of unexploded ordnance (UXO) was required for site cleanup.

Recent advances in airborne survey technology yield performance approaching ground-based surveys

Airborne magnetic and electromagnetic systems have been very effective over the years for mineral prospecting and in support of petroleum exploration. More recently, these towed-bird systems, operating at sensor altitudes of 30–50 m, have supported environmental investigations. The towed-bird systems can provide regional data for site investigations, such as locating or delimiting the boundaries of waste areas, identifying geologic contacts that influence environmental issues, or mapping saline intrusion. However, these conventional systems cannot provide the resolution required in many environmental and engineering problems because the distance between sensors and target objects is too great. Ground-based surveys are often suitable for addressing these problems but, for many sites, the area can be too large to be expediently addressed with surface geophysics. Contamination of government land with unexploded ordnance (UXO) is one such large-scale problem. As military bases are being closed and returned to civilian use, the removal of UXO has become a critical problem. By one estimate, about 11 million acres within the United States, roughly the sum of the areas of the states of New Hampshire and Vermont, are contaminated with UXO. This includes Department of Defense (DOD) sites, Department of Energy (DOE) sites, Native American sites, and National Park lands. At some DOD sites, large areas are currently off limits for training pending removal of UXO. In other parts of the world, UXO threatens people's lives every day. In the 1990s, two coauthors of this article, Holladay and Gamey, began to address the UXO problem while working at Aerodat in Toronto. They devised a three-magnetometer system, the HM-3, in which the sensors were mounted in booms attached directly to the helicopter. This architecture provided an opportunity for the pilot to safely fly much closer to the surface. During subsequent joint projects with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers, both …

Removal of Unexploded Ordnance from Patients: A 50-Year Military Experience and Current Recommendations

Retained unexploded ordnance in a patient presents the surgeon with unique emotional and technical challenges. This report is a compilation of data to determine management strategies for these potentially catastrophic injuries. All identified military cases from World War II to the present were reviewed. Cases were reviewed for site of injury, type of munition, personnel and equipment precautions, and outcome. Interviews were conducted with available involved surgeons. Thirty-six patients were identified with retained ordnance. Four were moribund upon arrival and died before operation. All of the remaining 32 patients survived the removal of the unexploded ordnance. Thirteen injuries involved the trunk, 4 involved the head and neck, and 18 involved extremities. The majority of missiles (51%) were 40-mm projectiles. No incident was identified in which a round exploded during transportation, preparation, or removal. Explosive Ordnance Disposal assistance was available to the surgical team for all but one patient during and after the Vietnam War. Measures used to reduce the chance of premature explosion are discussed. Isolation of the operating room and protection of personnel and equipment are essential. Patients should be triaged in the delayed category, because most are not morbund on arrival and all patients operated on survived. Explosive Ordnance Disposal expertise should be used. Knowledge of and adherence to several basic principles will protect personnel and equipment while permitting optimal patient care.

Feasibility of automating military's environmental operations

This paper focuses on analyses of the feasibility of telerobotic and autonomous systems in hazardous environments. The hazardous environments are divided into three missions: area clearance, removal of unexploded ordnance, and hazardous waste removal. This paper identifies the factors impacting military's missions on various operating systems. Then, a decision support system based on fuzzy logic is developed for studying these factors to determine the feasibility of automating military's environmental restoration operations. The last part of the paper provides a set of recommendations for technology policy development.