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Army will take
disciplinary action in
fatal training accident

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The Army has decided that the training exercise incident on the Big Island that resulted in the death of one Schofield Barracks soldier and injured four others was accidental.

"An error in judgment was made that night on Range 10. It was a mistake," said Maj. Stan Heath, 25th Infantry Division spokesman.

Heath said "appropriate disciplinary action" will be taken because certain safety standards may have not been followed.

Heath said two separate detonation systems were used on the bangalore torpedoes that exploded during a night exercise at the Pohakuloa Training Area on April 12.

He added that the Army doesn't have any explanation as to why two detonations systems were used.

Spc. Don Falter, 24, of Pocatello, Idaho, was killed when two bangalore torpedoes exploded as he tried to take cover. He and six other soldiers from the 25th Division's 65th Engineer Battalion were using two 5-foot long explosive devices to breach a triple-strand concertina wire obstacle at PTA's Range 10.

Bangalore torpedoes are used by Army explosives experts to clear large obstacles. The Army likes to use the movie "Saving Private Ryan" as an example, where soldiers trapped on Normandy Beach had to use these torpedoes to clear the beachhead.

Falter and his engineering team members had practiced this same operation for several days using blanks. They had also conducted a breach using live bangalore torpedoes the day before. Heath said an Army investigation team concluded that "the incident was not due to any criminal act nor was it intentional."

On the night of the accident, two separate charges were supposed to detonate simultaneously. Heath said the charges were placed within two feet of each other.

One was a pair of bangalore torpedoes in a "V" shape configuration, Heath said. The other was leftover detonation cords, which are explosive devices but do not have the same force as a torpedo.

Separate ignition systems were used to detonate the charges and two soldiers were supposed to set off the fuses simultaneously, Heath said.

But the smaller detonation cord system went off first.

Heath said Falter automatically reacted and along with his four teammates ran through the wire and dust in the dark, thinking that the two large bangalore torpedoes had blasted a hole in the concertina wire.

Just before reaching the wire, Falter realized that the bangalore torpedoes had failed to go off, Heath said.

Falter tried to retreat, but five seconds after the first explosion came the second, much larger and deadlier blast, instantly killing him.

Two soldiers were treated for injuries at the PTA aid station and later evacuated to Tripler Army Medical Center. Two other soldiers were flown to Hilo Hospital. One was immediately released; the other had to be sent to Tripler.

The accident occurred because the two charges did not detonate simultaneously and were not wired to the same blasting caps, fuses and timers, which is normally the case, Heath said.

"Processes and procedures associated with the accident have been reviewed with the intent of mitigating the chance that an incident of this nature will occur in future training exercises," Heath said.

He added that soldiers at Schofield Barracks continue to use the bangalore torpedoes in exercises.

The Army fatality is the first training death since 1990, when a Hawaii Army National Guard soldier was accidentally shot by an M-60 machine gun.

Two other soldiers were injured in the same early morning accident that occurred during the Army Guard's routine two-week summer session at PTA.

Two Marines were killed and 15 injured when they were hit by mortar rounds during another training accident on July 6, 1988.