HAND GRENADES, LAND MINES, TRIP FLARES, AND BOOBY TRAPS

The reasons Seabees fight and the types of fighting they do are different from those of other sailors. The primary job of the Seabee is to build, but you cannot build unless you control the jobsite. Since, in many instances, the jobsite maybe in a forward or unfriendly area, the need for being able to conduct a proper defense becomes obvious. For this reason there are certain military requirements imposed on Seabees.

When required, your job is to use the defensive techniques and tactics you have learned in military training. The objective of this chapter is to make you familiar with the various types of grenades, land mines, flares, and booby traps you might use or encounter in tactical situations. You will learn how to use them, their components, their safety features, and how to take counter-measures against their effective use by the enemy.

HAND GRENADES

Hand grenades are nothing more than small bombs, containing explosives or chemicals, that can be thrown by hand or rigged as booby traps. Their origin has been traced back many centuries, and it is generally agreed that the Chinese, whom we credit with the invention of gunpowder, were first to use them. However, it was not until World War I that they were sufficiently developed to be effective and safe. By World War II, the grenade inventory expanded to include smoke grenades for signaling and screening, phosphorus and fragmentation grenades to produce casualties, and gas grenades for both casualty and riot control effects. The grenades being used today are in many respects representative of the entire history of the development of grenades.