nature. It is not intended that these locations require approval by the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board
(DDESB) if ammunition and explosives are in total support of a training mission. Installation and service controls will
be established to ensure quantity-distance standards are applied to the extent possible.
c. Distribution of ammunition to personnel will occur only in areas designated for that purpose, for example,
ammunition breakdown buildings, ready lines, firing lines, attack positions, assembly areas, or defilade positions. Blank
and live-fire ammunition will not be stored in or issued from the same building at the same time.
d. Fuel and ammunition resupply operations and points will be located a minimum of 300 meters apart. General
officer installation commanders may authorize deviation from this standard based on quantity-distance (Q–D) criteria.
Distances will not be reduced below the public traffic route (PTR) distance for troops in training. Forward arming and
refueling point operations and separation distances for fuel, ready ammunition storage areas and basic load storage
areas will be in accordance with FM 1–111 and FM 10–67–1. Distance will not be reduced below the PTR distance for
training.
e. The quantity of ammunition unpacked at the breakdown building or firing line will be kept to the minimum
number of rounds needed for efficient firing for the exercise. Packaging material, propelling increments, and fuzes will
be retained until firing is complete. Units will not burn wooden containers or indiscriminately fire or dispose of
ammunition to preclude its return to a storage facility. (Exception: Smokey Sam rockets (a pyrotechnic) are issued by
the case with a quantity of 12 rockets and 12 igniter rods. Planning use of these pyrotechnics requires careful
consideration of the effects of moisture on unpacked items. All unpacked rockets must be expended and only full,
unbroken cases returned to the ammunition supply point.) Broken and or unserviceable increments (powder bags) will
be handled in accordance with installation range and environmental requirements.
f. Guided missiles, rockets, and components, such as fuels, propellants, oxidizers, and explosives in ready storage or
at the firing location, will be positioned to minimize the possibility of ignition or detonation by motor exhaust or by an
accident involving the firing of a missile or rocket. Items will be stored in dry locations, protected from direct rays of
the sun, and adequately ventilated. Marine Corps Smokey Sams, Smokey Guns, and pyrotechnics will be stored as
outlined in appropriate Marine Corps TMs, or Commander, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), technical
publications.
g. During prefire preparation, guided missiles, rockets, and components will be handled and assembled in a manner
consistent with this pamphlet, local range requirements, and appropriate FMs and TMs. Any alteration to guided
missiles or rockets and their associated equipment is prohibited, except as authorized by official publications or by the
CG, Army Materiel Command (AMC).
h. All ammunition unpacked for firing, but not fired, will be repackaged into its original packing configuration prior
to return to the ammunition supply point.
i. Ammunition that is easily degraded by short-term exposure to moisture, such as propelling charges, pyrotechnic
signals, and simulators, will be unpacked only for the minimum amount of time consistent with mission requirements.
j. Requests for current status of ammunition not listed in NAVSEA TWO24–AA–ORD–010 will be sent to
NAVAMMOLOGCN, Mechanicsburg, PA, DSN 430–2107/Comm (717) 605–2107 (Marine Corps).
k. Defective ammunition will be reported in accordance with MCO 8025.1D (Marine Corps).
3–3. Qualification and restriction of ammunition and explosives
a. The term “nonstandard item of explosives or ammunition” relates to an item that—
(1) Has not been accepted and type classified for use by the U.S. military.
(2) Is a standard item of demolition or munition that has been altered to change its characteristics or to do an
essentially different function from that for which it was intended and manufactured; and then used as initially intended.
Examples of this are adding excess increments to mortar or artillery ammunition, jamming VT fuzes, increasing the
propellant in small arms cartridges, or assembly of explosives components to inert rounds.
b. The term “field expedient explosive” denotes a standard item of explosive that is combined with other standard
explosive items or items that are normally nonexplosive by using techniques and procedures outlined in doctrinal
publications (FMs and TMs.)
c. Use of nonstandard ammunition and explosive items is prohibited unless specifically approved by one of the
following: CG, AMC; Commander, Marine Corps Systems Command (COMMARCORSYSCOM); Chief of Ordnance,
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; CG, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC); or CG, U.S. Army John F.
Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, NC, as appropriate. Commanders of Special Forces groups
may approve use of nonstandard items of explosives when necessary for Special Forces training and operations. The
use of approved nonstandard ammunition and explosives on a specific installation rests with the installation commander
of the affected installation if authorized by the MACOM commander.
d. Commander, AMC, ATTN: AMCSF, Alexandria, VA 22333–0001, will be informed by message of any nonstan-
dard item approved by other than Commander, AMC.
e. Field expedient explosive devices as prescribed by applicable field manuals and technical manuals are authorized
for use contingent on the approval of the installation range control officer. Approval should be granted only after risk
management is applied and an item specific SOP developed to implement controls.
14 DA PAM 385–63 • 10 April 2003