Assateague’s History Rich With War Activity; Military Cache Discovery Not Unusual For Island

ASSATEAGUE -- Last week’s discovery and planned detonation of over 100 pieces of World War II era military ordnance on Assateague, and the subsequent clean sweep conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers last weekend, recalled the once-remote barrier island’s rich history as wartime military test range and its genesis into a national park visited by hundreds of thousands each year.

Decades-old unexploded ordnance was discovered on the North Ocean Beach section of the Assateague Island National Seashore and was later assembled and detonated in several planned explosions by Army teams from Aberdeen. The Ocean City Bomb Squad initially determined the size, scale and type of munitions discovered on the beach were beyond its capabilities and the Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Aberdeen Proving Ground was brought in.

Last Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers arrived on Assateague and completed a two-day thorough sweep of the island using sophisticated instruments and gave the okay on Saturday afternoon to open the areas closed to the public in the days following the discovery last Monday. With the decision to open the closed areas came the caveat the island is in a constant state of flux and more ordnance can, and likely will, be exposed in the future.
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