U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Strickland, of the 65th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company, examines old munitions in Phu Lam Yai, Thailand, March 2, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
PHU LAM YAI, Thailand — About 30 U.S. and Thai troops braced themselves Sunday as more than 730 pounds of TNT and nearly 20 pounds of C4 detonated just over half a mile away.
Hunkered inside a reinforced shelter, they listened in silence for 30 seconds, waiting for the telltale clatter of lethal shrapnel that could reach the bunker.
The detonation, part of an explosive ordnance disposal demonstration, included about 90 high-explosive mortar shells from the Thai army. The shells, manufactured in 1960 and filled with TNT, were deemed unfit for use, said Sgt. Jared Strickland, an EOD specialist with the U.S. Army’s 65th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Disposing of aging munitions for partner nations is a routine mission for the company, Strickland said.
“They’ll contact us; they’ll give us all the old stuff, and we go and dispose of it safely in an area that can withstand the detonation,” he said. “Our Thai counterparts had a bunch of ordnance they no longer deemed usable — so we learn from them, and they learn from us on how to dispose of different things with different techniques.”
Explosive ordinance specialists with the U.S. and Thai armies lay C4 to dispose of old munitions in Phu Lam Yai, Thailand, March 2, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Before the explosion, Strickland’s team and soldiers from the Thai army’s 22nd Ordnance Ammunition Regiment carefully stacked the 90 shells inside a crater. They then placed 16 blocks of C4 lengthwise across the pile.
Given the extreme heat and the age of the munitions, the team took extra precautions, Strickland said. Each shell and each block of C4 carried enough explosive force to destroy a small building if detonated indoors.
The team opted to use C4 to detonate the high-explosive shells — M329A1 mortars typically fired from the M30 heavy mortar — because of the differences in how explosives react, Strickland explained. While TNT tends to “push” when it detonates, C4 is more effective at “cutting” through material.
A U.S. soldier holds an block of C4 that will detonate old munitions in Phu Lam Yai, Thailand, March 2, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Additional detonations planned for Sunday were rescheduled due to training nearby, said Staff Sgt. Tyler Wilson, an EOD team leader with the 65th.
The rescheduled disposals, tentatively moved to Monday, were to include a 564-pound detonation of more mortars and landmines and a nearly 19-pound detonation of white phosphorus that’s typically used in illumination or incendiary explosives, he said.
A plume of smoke rises as U.S. and Thai soldiers detonate more than 700 pounds of munitions in Phu Lam Yai, Thailand, March 2, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Nam Panthakan Termtorwattannakul, an EOD specialist with the Thai regiment, said he enjoyed learning about U.S. Army procedures.
“We have our own steps and our own styles to demolish [old munitions], and the U.S. has their own way to do that,” he told Stars and Stripes through a translator. “It was really fun — fantastic.”
