Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

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Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby rucker on Tue May 13, 2008 1:28 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/military_scrap_metal

Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Hundreds of Marines were conducting a combat training mission in the Mojave Desert when an air patrol spotted something kicking up dust: A civilian pickup truck speeding across the barren landscape.

Behind the wheel was a suspected scrap metal thief who had been combing the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center for spent brass shell casings. His intrusion onto the base was the 12th time in six months that scavengers had inadvertently halted combat exercises.

Bombing ranges have become prime hunting grounds for so-called "scrappers," who are motivated by soaring commodity prices to take greater risks in their quest for brass, copper and aluminum. The scavenging causes headaches for the military, which cannot patrol every inch of the remote bases where spent ammunition, shrapnel and unexploded ordnance are easy to find.

"This is not just some petty crime. This is dangerous business," said Andy Chatelin, director of range management at Twentynine Palms, which at 932 square miles is the world's largest Marine Corps base.

Illegal scavenging of military munitions has long been an issue at military bases. But as metal prices have climbed in the past two years, scavengers have become more numerous, more audacious and more sophisticated.

After he was spotted by troops last December, the pickup truck driver barreled directly at a Marine, who fired five shots at the vehicle. The driver swerved, flipped over and spilled hundreds of dollars in collected metal. He was taken by helicopter to a hospital and later charged with attempted murder.

The military loses hundreds of thousands of dollars every time it is forced to halt training. And when scrappers make off with unexploded ordnance, the public is at risk.

The Pentagon estimates up to 10 percent of all ordnance such as bombs, missiles and grenades fails to explode on impact. Some of it is left behind in training areas.

In May 2007, two suspected scrappers removed a Vietnam-era missile from the Twentynine Palms base. It later exploded in their Barstow home, killing both men and destroying the apartment. Earlier this year, two workers were injured at a Raleigh, N.C., recycling plant when ordnance suspected of coming from nearby Fort Bragg exploded.

"The expense we have to go through, not just to guard against the loss of training time, but the chance of this hazardous material getting out into the public, is enormous," said Ronald Pearce, who oversees a training range in Yuma, Ariz., where the Marines and Navy practice aerial assaults. "You just can't look the other way and condone it."

No one knows how much scrap metal lies discarded on U.S. military bases because there are no records of the tonnage of exploded and unexploded ordnance. The number of illegal scavengers is also unclear because the military can only confirm a theft when there is an arrest.

After meeting with the Defense Department last month, the Institute of Scrap Recycling urged its members to stop accepting military scrap without knowing the source of the material. It also recommended the military create a system to account for the material it uses.

The Pentagon said it's impossible to calculate the cost in interrupted training — including lost man-hours and wasted fuel — but they have begun tracking lost training time, which can climb into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, officials estimated they lost nine hours of aerial training between January and March.

To catch thieves, bases are combining technology with foot patrols and relying on help from sheriff's deputies.

The Twentynine Palms base is using cameras to conduct video surveillance of base borders. It also has assigned Marines from its Special Reaction Team, similar to a SWAT team, to work primarily on nabbing scrappers and trespassers.

But they are often up against a savvy enemy that uses high-tech communications and GPS systems, and often works in teams.

During a recent patrol at the base, Marines hunted for scrappers in gullies, desert washes and mountain crevices where some thieves had previously hid from helicopters under camouflage netting.

Last year, Marines found an abandoned car in the desert and a dead man nearby, plus a second man who was on the brink of death from dehydration. The pair were believed to have been prowling for scrap metal. Similar deaths were reported in Yuma.

The military said most scrappers arrested in the past several years appeared to be either illegal immigrants or drug users looking for easy money. If convicted on federal charges ranging from trespassing to theft, they face up to 20 years in prison.

Because the Twentynine Palms base is so vast, officials cannot erect and maintain fences. Instead, they have posted signs warning against trespassing, only to see those signs stolen for the metal.

"We've seen all types," Sgt. Timothy Warren said as he scanned the mountains with binoculars, looking for scavengers. "We've even arrested one guy, sent him to jail and then arrested him again a few days before he's even gone to court."
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby rucker on Tue May 13, 2008 1:31 pm

I guess I have to reconsider my plan for acquiring brass :lol:

The Twentynine Palms base is using cameras to conduct video surveillance of base borders. It also has assigned Marines from its Special Reaction Team, similar to a SWAT team, to work primarily on nabbing scrappers and trespassers.

But they are often up against a savvy enemy that uses high-tech communications and GPS systems, and often works in teams.


This is the reason I had to post the story though. Oh no, the Marines are facing their toughest challenge in years: a savvy "enemy" that uses high-tech communications and GPS systems :lol: :lol: I bet if they just stopped halting their exercises the problem would solve itself :twisted:
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby BRIT_in_the_weeds on Tue May 13, 2008 2:06 pm

Mine certain areas, mark them out of bounds for training.Then go back looking for teeth, problem solved.
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby chunkstyle on Tue May 13, 2008 4:48 pm

Seems to me that hunting the scrappers themselves would make a dandy training exercise!
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby hammAR on Tue May 13, 2008 5:27 pm

chunkstyle wrote:Seems to me that hunting the scrappers themselves would make a dandy training exercise!


If they opened it up to a free-fire zone for the Special Reaction Team instead of catch-and-release......... :twisted:
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby Aceq2jot on Tue May 13, 2008 6:02 pm

Just get the artillary going and let it rain down on them. If thye are stupid enough to be in front of the guns they get what they deserve :o :o :o
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby EricMN on Wed May 14, 2008 6:04 am

Aceq2jot wrote:Just get the artillary going and let it rain down on them. If thye are stupid enough to be in front of the guns they get what they deserve :o :o :o


Except then the family would sue the military and win with some lefty judge...

I mean even with the rifle ranges where we can see the entire range from the tower, and know where all personnel are (on Ft. Benning) we had to do the "If anyone is down range, make your presence known by sound sight or signal..." and then wait for 5 minutes or something.

I do agree with
chunkstyle wrote:Seems to me that hunting the scrappers themselves would make a dandy training exercise!


I'd love some training like that!
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby chunkstyle on Wed May 14, 2008 8:14 am

EricMN wrote:Except then the family would sue the military and win with some lefty judge...


Only if the bodies are found. Seriously, these ordinance ranges are deep desert, and every Marine has an E-tool.
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby Aceq2jot on Wed May 14, 2008 4:03 pm

chunkstyle wrote:
EricMN wrote:Except then the family would sue the military and win with some lefty judge...


Only if the bodies are found. Seriously, these ordinance ranges are deep desert, and every Marine has an E-tool.




Sure just turn them into Pink Mist :D There will be nothing left to identify.
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby EricMN on Thu May 15, 2008 5:02 pm

chunkstyle wrote:
EricMN wrote:Except then the family would sue the military and win with some lefty judge...


Only if the bodies are found. Seriously, these ordinance ranges are deep desert, and every Marine has an E-tool.


True... A little different than the Army one's I'm used to.


Back on the 'hunting the scrap metal guys' part, Many a time while I've been at Ft. Benning we've received the, "If you find a methlab/moonshine operation, mark the area on your map, and leave immediately, call in a SALUTE/SPOT report after you've cleared the area..." briefing.
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby DeanC on Mon May 19, 2008 11:15 am

Missing: 2,000-pound anchor outside Wisconsin naval station
Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/19/2008 11:08:36 AM CDT

LA CROSSE — Thieves took off with a 6-foot-tall, 2,000-pound anchor, and no one noticed — for four months.

La Crosse police are searching for thieves who took the gray-blue anchor that was mounted outside the Naval Reservist Station.

Naval Reservist Oversight Committee chairman Tom Sweeney reported the anchor missing Saturday, police said. The committee owns the anchor, which must have been stolen sometime between Dec. 31 and Thursday, Sweeney said.

Neighbors said they hadn't noticed it missing.
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby Pat on Wed May 21, 2008 8:13 am

There are more bars in La Crosse per capita, than in any other American burg ;)
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Re: Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers

Postby DeanC on Wed May 21, 2008 8:30 am

Pat wrote:There are more bars in La Crosse per capita, than in any other American burg ;)

Proof of that:
Missing anchor was actually reclaimed by US Navy
By EMILY FREDRIX – 14 hours ago

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — The case of the missing anchor has been solved. A decorative anchor was reported stolen Monday from where it sat in front of the Naval Reserve Center in La Crosse. The report raised eyebrows because police described the anchor as 6 feet long and weighing 2,000 pounds, and said there were no witnesses to the theft even though the center faces a well-traveled street.

It turns out the anchor wasn't stolen, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kurt Hedberg said Tuesday. The Navy reclaimed it last year when it ceded the building and land to the city of La Crosse.

"Before the center was turned over in December I was instructed to dispose of all Navy property, and that's what we did," Hedberg said. No one ever asked him for the anchor, which he said is now somewhere in storage.

He also said the anchor was nowhere near the size that police estimated.

"It might be about 500 pounds, 5 feet tall," he said. "When the movers came in they just backed up a flatbed truck and loaded it on."

Apparently no one noticed its disappearance until someone mentioned it last week at a meeting of the Navy Reserve Memorial Oversight Committee, chairman Tom Sweeney said.

The committee, which claimed it owns the anchor, planned to use it as a memorial at the station. Sweeney verified it was missing and called police.

The disappearance became national news. When Hedberg found out about the story in a Navy newspaper he was incredulous.

"I got a call this morning that this was local news in La Crosse," he said. "I was like, 'You're kidding me, right?'"

He called police and let them know the Navy had the anchor.

Sweeney said he was under the impression the anchor belonged to the center, but Hedberg said it was federal property because it was manufactured using federal funds.

Sweeney said he was grateful to learn the anchor hadn't been stolen, but he was miffed that the Navy took it.

"It would have been nice before they took it to let us know it's theirs," he said. "When someone gives you something and then takes it back without letting you know, you assume someone else took it."

Police Lt. Bob Berndt, who earlier speculated the anchor was stolen and sold for scrap, did not immediately return a message left Tuesday afternoon by The Associated Press.

The Navy said it might take time to track down the anchor in storage. The anchor never sailed on a Navy ship and was of no naval historical significance, so it wouldn't appear on any federal register or inventory, Hedberg said.

Hedberg added that no one has contacted him seeking the anchor's return, but the Navy would be open to discussions.

"We would be willing to talk to them to explore options," he said. "I'm sure we could work something out."

"That'd be great," Sweeney said.
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