Story and photo by Robert Johnson
Managing editor

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Do you have bullets that you’re not supposed to have? If so, you can turn in your unwanted ammunition during Fort Leonard Wood’s Amnesty Day scheduled for Tuesday. No questions about where it came from or how you got it will be asked.

“We’ll be collecting ammunition from 7 to 11:30 a.m. and again from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on June 6,” said Ken Gillespie, Quality Assurance Survey Ammunition specialist. “No questions asked. If you have ammo that you carried off a range, or a smoke grenade or simulator, this is the time to turn it in and get it off the street.”

Amnesty Day is an annual event that runs in conjunction with Safety Days, said Randy Sipes, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Safety director.

“It’s a regulatory requirement that we have a post-wide amnesty program every year,” Sipes said. “The last couple years, we haven’t seen a great deal of ammo coming back, so we thought this year we should make a bigger push to collect back up those rounds.”

With an amnesty program, a Soldier can turn in rounds that were inadvertently brought in from the field or a range and are now in the cantonment or housing areas without fear of getting into trouble.

“No questions asked,” Gillespie said. “We don’t care how you got it; it’s now time to get rid of it. If you don’t use the amnesty program and you’re caught with pyrotechnics, rounds or simulators, there can be disciplinary action.”

“Every round can be tracked back to the lot number and back to who signed for it from the Ammo Supply Point,” Gillespie said. “During Amnesty Day, we don’t care where it came from, just turn it back in.”

Most rounds that are turned in will find their way back into the supply system as training rounds.

“Every round is inspected for serviceability. If it’s a serviceable round, we will mark it ‘for training only’ and re-issue it to a unit. This goes for all forms of ammo used in training on Fort Leonard Wood,” Gillespie said.

Bullets that no longer meet Army standards are shipped to Crane Army Ammunition Activity in Indiana for destruction, but for explosive devices, such as 40mm grenades, pyrotechnics and other forms of ammunition, the destruction is done locally.

The 763rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company has the capability to destroy explosive rounds that are no longer serviceable, said Staff Sgt. Christopher Dean, 763rd EOD operations sergeant.

“However, if someone finds an unexploded ordnance, we would prefer they mark the area and call the Military Police desk. The MPs will call us to remove the round,” Dean said. “Do not try and move the round to an amnesty barrel. It can explode without warning.”

Sipes said he wanted to remind those with ammo to turn in that the amnesty program is only for individuals on the installation. For rounds off the installation, Sipes suggests calling the local police for assistance in turn-in or destruction.

“If someone finds grandpa’s World War II souvenir round and thinks it might be live, call the local police. They will assist in getting rid of it. Transporting it onto the installation is actually against the law,” Sipes said.

Individuals or units that have ammo to turn in can take those bullets to the amnesty box located just north of the FLW 38 on FLW 1. Additional amnesty boxes can be found near most dining facilities in the Advanced Individual Training and Basic Combat Training areas.

All amnesty boxes are cleaned out on a regular basis. There is absolutely no reason to keep rounds, simulators, smoke grenades or pyrotechnics in offices, barracks or homes, Gillespie said.

“Loose ammunition does not get better with age,” he added.