MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- The Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit aboard MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, is assigned many different responsibilities that may change from week to week, but what has stayed constant is its Training Aids Library that has been continuously stocked with ordnance for the last 40 years.
"We stock everything, from small arms and up; the sky is the limit," said David Karr, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician. "And almost everything in the library was live ordnance that was made inert."
The library has more than 600 pieces of ordnance, ranging from conventional, chemical, biological, improvised (homemade) and nuclear ordnance. It also specializes in foreign arms and ordnance, such as China, Russia and North Korea.
"The library is mainly used for training," said Karr. "We have to gain proficiency in our own MOS [military occupational specialty] and other units can use it to fulfill their training requirements."
Many units request EOD to hold periods of instruction and safety briefs using the ordnance on hand to prepare them for deployment. For instance, EOD can teach engineer units how to get land mines and deactivate them using inert ordnance.
"It keeps us fresh on our knowledge and skills," said Karr. "Everyone makes mistakes or forgets about certain ordnance. The library gives us a chance to go and look at the actual piece and work with it."
The EOD unit also constructs and exhibits homemade bombs out of everyday household items like suitcases and ice coolers. The bombs are only lights and whistles, but the procedures are the same; they can practice disarming them.
"Any unit can call us and request the library for training," said Karr. "We practice ordnance identification, safety precautions and disassembling inert ordnance and finding fuse functions."
Much of the ordnance is brought to EOD's attention by the local law enforcement.
There is a memorandum of understanding between all the services on Oahu, but MCB Hawaii's EOD usually takes the ordnance found on the Windward side and disposes of it. Otherwise, EOD uses the ordnance for training or inerting operations.
"When a more rare piece of ordnance comes in, we would rather gather intelligence on it than dispose of it," said Karr. "We have any kind of ordnance that was projected, fired, thrown, dropped, or placed, in our library. It might not be the exact thing you're looking for, but we have something pretty close. I can guarantee that!"
The EOD Training Aids Library is technically a restricted area, but if Marines, retirees and family members are interested in viewing the collection, they just need an EOD technician to escort them.