Status of the U.S. DoD Munitions Safety Program – Program Management
Pillars
Luke Robertson, Director Program Evaluation; Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board; Alexandria,
VA
Julie Finnegan, Safety Engineer, Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board; Alexandria, VA
Kris Bigej, Safety Engineer, Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board; Alexandria, VA
Keywords: Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB), Explosives Safety Management
Program (ESMP),
Oversight, Explosives Safety and Munitions Risk Management (ESMRM)
ABSTRACT
The concept of explosives safety within the U.S. Department of Defense has evolved considerably over the last
century. The historic role of the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB) and its forerunners
included inspecting or providing a survey of each U.S. Military installation where military munitions are present. In
an effort to better manage and provide oversight to the Department’s explosives safety program, the DDESB shifted
away from compliance-type inspections to programmatic reviews of the DoD Services and Components. Over the
last decade, the DDESB has evaluated each of the Services (U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps) from a
programmatic prospective. These reviews have afforded a unique opportunity to develop a more holistic view of
how each Service manages explosives safety, given their unique and complementary missions, and to define the core
management pillars of an explosives safety program regardless of mission. In this paper, these elements, developed
over the last decade of evaluation activities by the DDESB Staff, are outlined and are currently being used to update
explosives safety policy within the Department. At the core of these pillars is a cadre of dedicated personnel who
are adequately trained and resourced to oversee the complex and massive DoD munitions enterprise. They ensure
that the public, DoD personnel and mission assets are adequately protected from the potential consequences of an
explosives safety-related accident as well as manage conditions to reduce the probability of such an accident’s
occurrence. With increasing constraints on land usage, larger and more complex weapons systems and platforms,
and the increasing reliance on integrated contract support to the munitions enterprise, the explosives safety
landscape is becoming more complex. The DDESB staff views the pillars outlined in this paper as the firm
foundation for another successful century in managing the risks associated with military munitions throughout their
lifecycles.
