I'm standing at the entrance to the munitions-disposal area of the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR).Security forces have just opened the gate so that I can proceed toward Lakeside in spite of the fact that mass quantities of munitions were being disposed of with prejudice. Said disposal usually requires that this gate be closed, locked, and heavily guarded---not to protect idiotic members of the public from danger, but to protect the Air Force from frivolous lawsuits arising from personal injuries that could be easily avoided.

Moments later I drove off and security personnel closed and locked the gate to "protect the public." As I proceeded down the road, military bomb-disposal experts were creating frightening explosions with munitions that had passed their "best by" dates. Fragments of bomb casings and artillery shells were flying in all directions, littering the landscape. (Not to worry, the Air Force's "Adopt-A-Munitions-Disposal-Site" program ensures that the trash is picked up on a regular basis.) Although this devastating activity was taking place in close proximity to the road, I soldiered on through this danger zone to fulfill my PBase mission ("to educate and inform") and my personal mission ("to face any and all dangers head-on and without hesitation"). However, there are limits to my bravado: I will not willingly expose myself to spiders, scorpions, poisonous snakes, precipices at the top of cliffs, and slugs.

Out of view here are bomb disposal technicians, military police, and observers from the Grand Duchy of Fenwick. The GDF observers were here to watch the disposal of certain munitions as part of a disarmament agreement the GDF has with the United States. The blasts I witnessed produced hot air in amounts significantly less than that producing this description.

Photographed on Puddle Valley Highway on the way to Lakeside, Utah.
Imaging support services provided by Special Forces Technician Joe Tripod.