 |
|
The impact of the shock waves caused by this explosion was strong enough to be felt 1.6 kilometers away.
|
President Benigno S. Aquino III detonated the remaining explosive ordnance of World War II using a Radio Firing Device on March 5, 2011 in Crow Valley, Tarlac, creating a fireball of mushroom while observing from a safe elevation 1.6 kilometers away.
Captain Rommel Jason Galang, the Commander of Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) who led the entire operations under Joint Task Force Caballo, rendered safe 400,000 lbs of explosives, which consisted mostly of MK6 and MK9 depth charges.
The disposal operation dubbed as “Operation Flashpoint” is a joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Exercise participated by EOD teams from the Army, Air Force, PNP and Coast Guard led by NAVSOG.
Operation Flashpoint is a three-phased EOD operation whose first phase started on January 20 to February 4, 2011 inside a WWII storage facility in Caballo Island. This phase involved rendering safe vulnerable depth charges by removing their detonating devices and boosters inside every canister, and then securing them on wooden pallets.
The second phased involved the planning and shipping of the ordnance from Caballo to Subic Bay using a commercial Landing Craft Tank contracted by the US government. From Subic, the ordnance were transported to Crow Valley, Tarlac at past midnight to avoid the traffic and pose hazards to civilians.
While the final phase involved the controlled disposal of depth charges that was launched with the detonation of the first blast on February 9, 2011 led by Rear Admiral Jose Luis Alano, the Commander of the Philippine Fleet, who has the NAVSOG as its special operations unit. More than 2,500 lbs of gun powder was exploded during the initial blast.
Task Force Caballo’s EOD exercise involved combined EOD teams from the different uniformed services in the country to dispose 400,000 lbs of explosives as part of their training using controlled quantities for blasting daily.
On the security of nearby civilians, Captain Galang said that they had initiated dialogues with the local community leaders a month prior to their arrival in Crow Valley, showing them in details their plans and procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.
Caballo Island is a naval munitions facility since WWII located adjacent to Cavite and Bataan, while Crow Valley is a military reserved area used to conduct exercises on explosive ordnance disposals.
During an interview after the final blast, President Aquino said that he requested US President Barak Obama to assist his government in disposing the remaining WWII naval ordnance in Caballo Island when they met last September during the UN General Assembly in New York, and again, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Japan last November.
The president emphasized that the manner in which Task Force Caballo safely handled the dangerous operation was very impressive. He stressed out that he closely monitored the situation and saw how safe and detailed the plan was undertaken and this only exemplifies how professional our EOD teams are.
Rear Admiral Alano commended the Navy’s elite, NAVSOG, and the other participants from the uniformed services who took part in Joint Task Force Caballo. He described their historic feat as an exemplified act of bravery, heroism and the unwavering dedication of the Philippine Fleet towards the welfare of the people whom it has sworn to serve.
US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. was among the dignitaries who witnessed the explosion of the last remnants of WWII in the Philippines.
No comments:
Post a Comment