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Bomb Makers in Oklahoma in High Gear
Aired December 04, 2002 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well a lot of bombs are expected to fall if the U.S. goes to war with Iraq, and most, if not all, of those bombs will come from a plant in Oklahoma. The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant makes virtually all the non-nuclear bombs, the smart bombs and the dumb bombs, that are dropped from American planes.
National correspondent Gary Tuchman has exclusive access to the plant and he brings us more from there.
Pretty fascinating stuff -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it really is very interesting, particularly because so many of us knew so little about this. McAlester, Oklahoma is a small city about 100 miles south of Tulsa where unbeknownst to most of us, almost all of American's bombs used since World War II have been manufactured.
Right now they're making an average of 200 bombs a day here at this Army ammunition plant, a total of about 74,000 bombs a year. What they like to say here is if it doesn't come out of a gun, it's very likely that they make it here in McAlester, Oklahoma. The bombs they make range from 20-millimeter tank rounds to 5,000-pound bombs.
Just a short time ago, we watched as they put together the 5,000- pound bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Right now we're with the explosives operation foreman Pete, who prefers not to have his last name used.
Pete, what we're looking at right now it's a 5,000-pound bomb?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, it's a 5,000-pound bomb.
TUCHMAN: OK, now where is it being brought right now as we speak?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be -- it's brought over here to have the cap -- the fill cap put on it, and we're going to tar the inside of the bomb right here.
TUCHMAN: OK, now why is the inside of the bomb tarred, what is that for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The inside of the bomb is tarred to keep the explosive away from the metal on the inside of the bomb. TUCHMAN: OK. Now as we are looking at this, the explosive compound is not in the bomb yet, right, that's a later stage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, that's in a later stage.
TUCHMAN: Now they're taking off the back end of the bomb there. What's that purpose of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a funnel that we put on in the backside of the bomb so that we can put the tar inside the bomb. That funnel is a way we get the tar inside the bomb.
TUCHMAN: Now when you're here with your men and women, this is a dangerous job, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, it is.
TUCHMAN: I mean last year or somebody on this plant was killed when a 2,000-pound bomb fell on them, so it's not just the explosive aspect of it, it's the heaviness of these bombs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That's right, it's the equipment and everything that we fool with every day.
TUCHMAN: And how concerned are you for your people while they're working here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are -- we're safety-minded. We -- if anybody sees anything wrong, they report it to me or they -- we get -- we get it fixed. We don't have no -- we don't want no accident whatsoever.
TUCHMAN: How does it make you feel knowing that the bombs that we see here will -- could ultimately be dropped during a battle, during wartime, and possibly kill people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel great about it. You know what they done to us in New York and stuff, we feel good about it so.
TUCHMAN: And the people who work here are very patriotic, aren't they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's more like a family. They all stick together. And we kind of upset about what they do to us, so we -- we're ready to do it. We do our job and give them this right here.
TUCHMAN: And these are the biggest bombs you make here, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Yes, sir it is.
TUCHMAN: And how many of these 5,000-pound bombs are made each day in this plant?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this plant right here we make -- we make -- in this building right here we make 10 bombs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Ten of those bombs and 190 other types of bombs. We should stress no nuclear bombs are made here, but virtually all the non-nuclear bombs used by America are made at this facility in Oklahoma.
Now we haven't heard much about this place over the last 59 years and that's why we want to tell you that what's happening now, this is the first time, according to the officials here, that any television crew has done a live report on the grounds. But we are not able to do live reports where we just were where they're making the bombs. And the reason for that, according to the authorities, is that the frequencies we use for our live transmission could interfere with the bomb making and possibly cause a bomb to explode.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Gary, we definitely don't want to see that on live television, but I do have quick -- two quick questions for you. We're all curious, why Oklahoma? Why is this in Oklahoma? And No. 2, I'm very curious to know about the security around this plant.
TUCHMAN: OK, and the answer to your first question, they built this in 1943. It started out relatively small. It eventually just grew bigger and bigger. It's now run by the U.S. Army, but they provide the bombs for all four branches, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines. What started small in Oklahoma and grew and remains here 59 years later.
And regarding the security here, as you might imagine, it's very elaborate. You come in here, you're checked very carefully. Right now it's hard (INAUDIBLE) shot of that (ph). What we have here is yellow strips. I mean it's hard for me to stand on one leg, but it's good exercise. See the yellow strips on my shoe right there?
PHILLIPS: I can see them.
TUCHMAN: Those yellow strips were put on there -- OK, those yellow strips are put on there to reduce the static electricity, because if you don't have those, it's possible that an explosion could result if you didn't have those on your shoes. So those are the parts of the steps they do to make sure you're safe here.
Other things, to be very honest with you, we can't tell you about. There are certain ground rules. They have told us that we cannot reveal certain items, but there's a lot of security here.
PHILLIPS: Yes, no doubt. We want you to keep that classified.
Gary Tuchman, incredible reporting. Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 4, 2002 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well a lot of bombs are expected to fall if the U.S. goes to war with Iraq, and most, if not all, of those bombs will come from a plant in Oklahoma. The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant makes virtually all the non-nuclear bombs, the smart bombs and the dumb bombs, that are dropped from American planes.
National correspondent Gary Tuchman has exclusive access to the plant and he brings us more from there.
Pretty fascinating stuff -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it really is very interesting, particularly because so many of us knew so little about this. McAlester, Oklahoma is a small city about 100 miles south of Tulsa where unbeknownst to most of us, almost all of American's bombs used since World War II have been manufactured.
Right now they're making an average of 200 bombs a day here at this Army ammunition plant, a total of about 74,000 bombs a year. What they like to say here is if it doesn't come out of a gun, it's very likely that they make it here in McAlester, Oklahoma. The bombs they make range from 20-millimeter tank rounds to 5,000-pound bombs.
Just a short time ago, we watched as they put together the 5,000- pound bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Right now we're with the explosives operation foreman Pete, who prefers not to have his last name used.
Pete, what we're looking at right now it's a 5,000-pound bomb?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, it's a 5,000-pound bomb.
TUCHMAN: OK, now where is it being brought right now as we speak?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be -- it's brought over here to have the cap -- the fill cap put on it, and we're going to tar the inside of the bomb right here.
TUCHMAN: OK, now why is the inside of the bomb tarred, what is that for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The inside of the bomb is tarred to keep the explosive away from the metal on the inside of the bomb. TUCHMAN: OK. Now as we are looking at this, the explosive compound is not in the bomb yet, right, that's a later stage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, that's in a later stage.
TUCHMAN: Now they're taking off the back end of the bomb there. What's that purpose of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a funnel that we put on in the backside of the bomb so that we can put the tar inside the bomb. That funnel is a way we get the tar inside the bomb.
TUCHMAN: Now when you're here with your men and women, this is a dangerous job, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, it is.
TUCHMAN: I mean last year or somebody on this plant was killed when a 2,000-pound bomb fell on them, so it's not just the explosive aspect of it, it's the heaviness of these bombs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That's right, it's the equipment and everything that we fool with every day.
TUCHMAN: And how concerned are you for your people while they're working here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are -- we're safety-minded. We -- if anybody sees anything wrong, they report it to me or they -- we get -- we get it fixed. We don't have no -- we don't want no accident whatsoever.
TUCHMAN: How does it make you feel knowing that the bombs that we see here will -- could ultimately be dropped during a battle, during wartime, and possibly kill people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel great about it. You know what they done to us in New York and stuff, we feel good about it so.
TUCHMAN: And the people who work here are very patriotic, aren't they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's more like a family. They all stick together. And we kind of upset about what they do to us, so we -- we're ready to do it. We do our job and give them this right here.
TUCHMAN: And these are the biggest bombs you make here, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Yes, sir it is.
TUCHMAN: And how many of these 5,000-pound bombs are made each day in this plant?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this plant right here we make -- we make -- in this building right here we make 10 bombs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Ten of those bombs and 190 other types of bombs. We should stress no nuclear bombs are made here, but virtually all the non-nuclear bombs used by America are made at this facility in Oklahoma.
Now we haven't heard much about this place over the last 59 years and that's why we want to tell you that what's happening now, this is the first time, according to the officials here, that any television crew has done a live report on the grounds. But we are not able to do live reports where we just were where they're making the bombs. And the reason for that, according to the authorities, is that the frequencies we use for our live transmission could interfere with the bomb making and possibly cause a bomb to explode.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Gary, we definitely don't want to see that on live television, but I do have quick -- two quick questions for you. We're all curious, why Oklahoma? Why is this in Oklahoma? And No. 2, I'm very curious to know about the security around this plant.
TUCHMAN: OK, and the answer to your first question, they built this in 1943. It started out relatively small. It eventually just grew bigger and bigger. It's now run by the U.S. Army, but they provide the bombs for all four branches, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines. What started small in Oklahoma and grew and remains here 59 years later.
And regarding the security here, as you might imagine, it's very elaborate. You come in here, you're checked very carefully. Right now it's hard (INAUDIBLE) shot of that (ph). What we have here is yellow strips. I mean it's hard for me to stand on one leg, but it's good exercise. See the yellow strips on my shoe right there?
PHILLIPS: I can see them.
TUCHMAN: Those yellow strips were put on there -- OK, those yellow strips are put on there to reduce the static electricity, because if you don't have those, it's possible that an explosion could result if you didn't have those on your shoes. So those are the parts of the steps they do to make sure you're safe here.
Other things, to be very honest with you, we can't tell you about. There are certain ground rules. They have told us that we cannot reveal certain items, but there's a lot of security here.
PHILLIPS: Yes, no doubt. We want you to keep that classified.
Gary Tuchman, incredible reporting. Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
