Just something I got from a FB munitions post thought it might be of interest.
Some genius in the Pentagon purchased a bunch of old WW2 TNT
Bombs from NATO for $13 apiece. We got a bunch of those rusty relics at Korat and had the joy of loading them. They sweated liquid (nitro?) and some had crystals growing in the fuse wells. To get the fuses installed, we had to scrape the crystals out with a pen knife. About a week after we loaded the last ones, we had visitors from Norton AFB to brief us on the latest goodies we would be loading. In mid sentence, the spokesman said in an urgent voice, “Oh, by the way, if you get any WW2 TNT bombs with crystals in the fuse well, don’t try to scrape them out!!! They are highly sensitive and could cause the bomb to explode!!”
We sat there looking at each other with our very best “you gotta be shittin’ me expression!!!” ! As a crew chief I was always pretty busy. When the load crew arrived it was break time. I was leaning on a 450 fuel tank, watching the guys work when one of them who was installing a nose fuse whispered, “shit”. Freeze-frame. Finally somebody whispered, “what?” The first guy said, “I left my wire cutters in my tool bag.”
The second guy told him to never do that again.
Everybody started breathing again.
You were lucky.
I worked around high exolosive most of my time in the Air Force,got to be around the "Special Weapons" (Nuclear Bombs) too. [agnostic.com]
Some people deserve all the "boom" they get.
Moving a 3000 pound bomb in Thailand during the VietNam war
Doesn't sound like a job I would have the backbone for!
No,it took guts,skill and understanding the dangers around high explosives. Navy, Marines and Air Force weapons loaders are well trained. I didn't load weapons that much, but repaired the bomb racks,missile launchers and the aircraft themselves[agnostic.com]