Mayport EOD Assists In Search For Rockets

In the car was a rusting 70 mm rocket the two occupants said they had discovered earlier in the day in the Ogeechee River, which flows near Fort Stewart, just west of Savannah, Ga. Recreational boaters found two additional rockets at the same location.

Lt. John Laney, officer in charge of the Kings Bay EOD detachment, said Mayport and Kings Bay were called because they are the only two units in the Southeast Region with underwater operations expertise.

"We spent three hours sweeping the river's bottom with as many as six divers at the site where locals reported having found the missiles, but there is nothing down there," said Laney. "It is possible there are missiles there that we can't see buried in the river bottom, and more could possibly turn up tomorrow, or fifty years from now."

Laney said the ordnance was identified as Vietnam-era training rockets, in which the warhead is inert but the motor is live.

Although the search came up empty, it did lead to a training opportunity with the detachment's Army counterparts at Fort Stewart.

"This is the first opportunity I have had to work with Kings Bay, and they have been very responsive," said Army Capt. Dorian Hatcher, commanding officer of the 731st Ordnance Company at Fort Stewart. "They pulled themselves out of training in order to assist us with this sweep."

Fort Stewart officials said the three rockets were safely disposed of by the 731st, and the Army continues to investigate how the rockets turned up in the river.

The air-launched 70 mm rockets were developed in the 1940s by the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, Calif., to supplement aircraft guns in air-to-ground and air-to-air attacks.

"People must understand these rockets are very dangerous and can possibly ignite and cause death and damage from something as simple as static electricity."

Laney added if someone discovers ordnance, call local law enforcement immediately, and stay away from the area.