On 21 July, 24 Spartan rocket motors began demilitarization at the Red River Munitions Center, Joint Munitions Command, located at Red River Army Depot. RRMC will demil one motor per day, six days a week (weather permitting) until the mission is complete.
Manufactured from 1972 to 1974, the Spartan rocket motors never exceeded 100 units. The 24 set for demil at RRAD are the last Spartan rocket motors in the country.
According to Harrell Hignight, director of RRMC, the rocket motors are not safe to ship and are now obsolete.
"The rockets were never used at all," said Hignight. "They were created for just-in-case means."
The rocket motors weigh 10,000 pounds and take approximately eight minutes to burn.
The complete process to demil the rocket motors takes approximately half a day. Before transportation, each rocket motor is filled with 250 gallons of water in order to minimize the friction the propellant produces during the move. The truck carrying the rocket motors cannot travel over 5 miles per hour.
The demil area for the rocket consists of a U-shaped configuration of cement blocks surrounded on the back side by dirt. Three additional blocks are placed in front of the container before the burn.
Highly trained personnel conduct the demilitarization mission which produces no loud sound, vibration or smell. Only visible to the public will be a cloud of white smoke which can reach altitudes of up to 2,500 feet.
"Nothing in the cloud is unsafe," said Hignight. "We don't want anyone in residential areas around the depot or workers on the depot to panic."
The demilitarization is a part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act which requires RRMC to move or demil everything before its relocation in 2011 to McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma.
Social Sharing