There is no denying that Mississippi is the home to the riverfront of the Mississippi Delta and Delta Blues. On the other hand, this southern state is also known for the famous training grounds of the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center.
Established in 1917, Camp Shelby initially supported the mobilization effort during World War I. The Center, which is currently comprised of 134,000 acres, has continued to serve as a training site ever since. The Center hosts Reserve Components of the Army, and Active Components of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.
In May 2000, a fatal incident involving unexploded ordnance (UXO) occurred at Camp Shelby. Ignoring warnings, a group of teenagers entered Camp Shelby's operational range and removed some anti-tank projectiles. While taking a projectile from their truck, one detonated, killing one teenager and critically injuring another. The detonation also damaged several homes and vehicles.
As a result of this incident, the Army established its 3Rs (Recognize, Retreat, Report) Explosives Safety Education Program in 2000. The 3Rs Program educates individuals and communities about the potential hazards associated with military munitions and the actions to take should they encounter a military munition to avoid injury. The 3Rs Program focuses on key demographics, such as children, and behaviors, such as moving, touching or disturbing munitions, that may lead to death or serious injury. The 3Rs Program contains educational materials, including explosives safety guides, posters, signs and publications that may be used in outreach and explosives safety educational programs.
In 2013, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health (ODASA (ESOH)) funded an independent programmatic study to assess the effectiveness of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) implementation of the Army's 3Rs Program in changing behaviors for communities within or near Formerly Used Defense Sites where unexploded ordnance and other military munitions are known or suspected to be present. Although this assessment identified a number of opportunities for improvement, it also found the 3Rs Program to be an effective risk management tool for influencing people's behavior to avoid actions that upon encountering a munition may lead to death or serious injury.
For military installations, the 3Rs Program provides awareness, training, and resources to educate Soldiers, their families, and others who work on or visit Army installations and surrounding communities about the potential hazards associated with military munitions and actions to take to avoid injury. The 3Rs Program also supports the Army's Interim Risk Management requirements to address risk posed by military munitions remaining on an installation's operational and former ranges used for live-fire training or testing.
The Army is currently implementing a 3Rs Project designed to assist active and National Guard installations in implementing a comprehensive 3Rs Program. This effort is a follow-on to the Army's earlier assessment in 2013. Initially, the goal of the 3Rs effort was to engage five installations and establish full implementation of a self-sustaining 3Rs Program at each installation.
The 3Rs Project is a collaborative effort between ODASA (ESOH), with the support of USACE's Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville and in conjunction with the Albuquerque District. In August 2014, a team composed of members from USA Environmental, Incorporated, CALIBRE Systems and GSL Solutions initiated the 3Rs Project. The team is currently completing its efforts to update and improve the 3Rs website (www.denix.osd.mil/uxo) to reinforce the 3Rs message and its branding in a centralized fashion. One of the measures the team selected to improve the reach of the 3Rs Program is to make the website mobile-device accessible and more interactive. Once completed, this will assist in promoting the website as a valuable and readily available resource for the 3Rs Program. Our goal is to launch the improved website in the Fall of 2015.
In addition to enhancing the website, the team completed fact finding visits to Ft. Bragg, NC; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Ft. Bliss, TX; and Camp Shelby, MS. During the visits, the team identified opportunities to tailor installation-specific 3Rs educational materials to meet each installation's needs and gain buy-in to the 3Rs Program. The team quickly adapted its efforts to address these challenges and immediately implemented lessons learned to improve the 3Rs Program. Fort Riley, KS, the fifth installation, which was recently added to the project, is scheduled to be visited in October 2015.
An interim progress review (IPR) of the website's redesign and the results of the initial fact-finding visits was conducted in in May 2015. This IPR addressed the 3Rs Project's success in gaining installation support for the 3Rs Program, and offered solutions to challenges that will likely arise as the 3Rs Program expands to additional installations. Additionally, it provided recommendations for expansion of this effort to other installations.
The team's next key milestone is to conduct presentations for small and large audiences during scheduled events at each installation. To institutionalize and sustain our momentum, the team will develop instructions and guidance to offices and individuals responsible for administering 3Rs education at their installation. To ensure success ODASA (ESOH) will continue improving the 3Rs Program and advising installations of lessons learned during the 3Rs fact-finding visits and implementation.
Thank you for taking your valuable time to read about this very important initiative your Army is implementing to protect and save lives of soldiers, civilians and families. To learn more about the 3Rs program, we encourage you to visit our website at: wwwdenoix.osd.mil/uxo and always remember that, Army Safe is Army Strong!
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Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment
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