Photo By Brannen Parrish | Soldiers from the 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division drill and hammer...... read more read more
The Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers called in reinforcements to remove an obsolete radio tower near Teterville, Kansas, April 23, 2025.
The 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas provided explosive enthusiasm and support to remove the repeater tower, a once vital piece of communication infrastructure for the Kansas Area lake offices in the second half of the 20th Century.
The 60-year-old tower presented an unacceptable level of risk to public safety, so the
“It’s important because this tower needs to be taken down, it’s no longer being utilized, and it's a safety hazard,” said Lt. Col. Curtis Loftin, deputy commander, Tulsa District, USACE.
Engineers used steel cutting charges, exothermic torches, and industrial-grade saws to fell, reduce, and expedite removal.
Combat engineers usually hone their craft on military training ranges, so the battalion leadership used the opportunity to encourage outside the range thinking to plan a safe and effective demolition.
“I had the platoon leaders present to me a plan on how they would reduce it with the given limited resources, and really had them flex their tactical mindset, their tactical muscles,” said Lt. Col. Rolland Johnson, commander, 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division. “Then, through the briefing process, we picked the best one based on how they would approach this problem set.”
The final step involved removing the concrete foundations that kept the tower upright for six decades. Soldiers used jackhammers to drill holes into the concrete bases that held the tower’s base, and the stabilizing guidewires, and inserted explosives. The last of three repeater towers the Tulsa District’s Kansas Area lake offices once relied upon, they extended the range of two-way radios for park rangers working in the field. And supported routine daily communication with the district office.
“In the mornings, each project office in Kansas would have to call in the morning report over the radio,” said Eugene Goff, operations project manager for the Kansas Area, Tulsa District, USACE. “There was a base station in our district office and a person would call each of the projects, and then they'd get it from them. And that was giving weather data and lake elevation data.”
The tower's removal will save money on maintenance and reduce risks to public safety but the Soldiers who executed the demolition also benefit from the enjoyment they experienced performing their mission in a different environment.
“It's great. It's absolutely great,” said Johnson. “So, these Soldiers being ‘Big Red One Soldiers’, we're fit. We're already trained. We're disciplined, and we're ready for any mission. And this just further enhances that ability to be ready for anything. Standard. Nonstandard. Complex or Simple for us to be able to get after it.”
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2025 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 497049 |
| Location: | KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 292 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Tulsa District, Fort Riley Soldiers conduct mutually beneficial tower demolition in Kansas, by Brannen Parrish, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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