C. Falls grad helps defuse explosive situation

Airman Mike Kegley spotted unexploded bomb near American air base in Iraq

The Daily Inter Lake

Airman 1st Class Mike Kegley of Columbia Falls won accolades from his Air Force unit by finding an unexploded bomb at Sather Air Base, Iraq.

Kegley, a 2003 graduate of Columbia Falls High School, noticed the unexploded ordnance buried near the fuels management flight offices Feb. 1.

Kegley, a fuels operator with the 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, saw the ordnance out of the corner of his eye while he and a tech sergeant were walking in the area.

The bomb was barely visible, buried just below ground level underneath a tree.

"At first we didn't think it was (unexploded ordnance)," he said.

At first glance, Kegley thought it was a water bottle.

After looking at it a little more closely, the two consulted their Airman's Manual to follow the correct response procedures and attempted to identify the object.

Kegley and his companion cordoned off the area around it and called the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight.

When he realized it was real, Kegley said his "heart kind of jumped."

The experts determined it was a Soviet-made 57 mm anti-aircraft projectile. The device had a little surface rust, but was in fairly good condition.

Fortunately, anti-aircraft projectiles did not have a fuse. However, Air Force officials emphasized that every potential explosive ordnance requires this professional procedure.

"The fuels airmen did exactly what they were supposed to do," Master Sgt. Mark Thrower, an explosives ordnance disposal technician, said.

The son of Dawn M. Needles now of Missoula, Kegley started a four-month tour in Iraq in January. He has served in the Air Force for two years as of Feb. 6.

His unit, the 447th Air Expeditionary Group, serves as the primary aerial port for transient military aircraft entering and exiting Iraq. The group was established after elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Division captured the airport April 4, 2003.

The base name honors Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott Sather, a Clio, Mich., native, who was killed April 8, 2003, in combat in Iraq.