Frangible bullets keep Ellsworth on track

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Abigail Klein
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  It's a typical scene at the firing range. The line of safety instructors meticulously watch the shooters, holding their weapons properly, aiming at their targets down the range -- except after the instructor yells, "fire," each bullet shatters on impact.

The bullets shatter because unlike traditional lead bullets, frangible bullets, which have been in use at Ellsworth's Combat Arms Training and Maintenance facility since 2006, are used as an attempt to reduce lead exposure to the instructors and students.

The bullets, which were developed in the 1990s by the U.S. Army, differ from traditional lead cased bullets due to a ceramic material cased in copper that shatters on impact.

"Before the new firing range was built in 2004, the lead bullets fired at CATM went into the ground where an earthen back stop prevented further movement," said Tech. Sgt. Ryan James, 28th Security Forces Squadron NCO in charge of combat arms.

The decision to implement frangible bullets at Ellsworth was pushed by Ellsworth's 28th Medical Group Bioenvironmental Engineering flight due to the high levels of lead exposure to the CATM instructors and students.

Unlike lead bullets, frangible bullets reduce the risk of exposure by shattering on impact.

At strategically built bullet trap continues this process. After the bullets hit the back stop they are slowed through an acceleration tank where the fragments are then deposited into a 55 gallon drum to avoid seeping into the soil and surrounding water systems.

The drums are then collected and disposed of by members of the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron Hazardous Material Pharmacy, Sergeant James said.

Each base using frangible bullets has had air tests conducted at their firing ranges by the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations, but the results will not be released until this fall.

The 28th Medical Operations Squadron Bioenvironmental Engineering flight has already conducted preliminary testing at Ellsworth.

"Base wide we conduct lead sampling in the water every two years," said Master Sgt. Jana L. Mundell, 28 MDOS NCO in charge of the Bioenvironmental Engineering flight. "We also perform CATM air sampling quarterly or when they do heavy weapon firing."

These tests reveal that the engineering controls at CATM are in working order and have shown results that high doses of lead exposure have been reduced at CATM by 96 percent since switching to frangible bullets.

Despite these positive results, Jens Christensen, 28th Civil Engineer Squadron air and tank program manager, admits the use of the bullets is limiting. In addition to "gumming" up weapons, they do little to improve the air ventilation of the range.

"It's a temporary fix," he said. The frangible bullets are more expensive and the ventilation surrounding CATM is still in need of improvement to prevent instructors from breathing the lead in."

Despite these drawbacks, members of CATM remain convinced of the environmental improvements the bullets have made at the range.

"The bullets are allowing us to keep lead out of the ground, especially when you consider that before the use of the these bullets all lead bullets fired were going directly into the soil," Sergeant Ryan said. "These bullets are being recycled and put to better use and that in itself is a big improvement."