Regarding the "Mysterious" ADM Platoon
Pictured in the 1963 3AD Yearbook
(See "ADM Platoon" on Weapons Inventory
index)
By Section Editor: Robert M. Forrest
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The appearance of a Atomic Demolition Munitions
(ADM) platoon in the 1963 3AD yearbook was indeed at the start
of a new era for certain specialized units of Army engineers.
Beginning in the mid-1960's engineer battalions of many Army
divisions were deployed two different types of atomic demolition
munitions (ADM's): one called the Medium ADM (MADM) and the other,
the Special ADM (SADM).
The MADM was a larger device, while the SADM was man-portable
and had yields that ranged as low as less than 1 kiloton. ADM's
were used just as conventional demolition charges were to be
used; i. e., to take down bridges, reduce large obstacles, create
craters, and any other purposes that fall under what the engineers
term "mobility" and "countermobility" missions.
ADM's were, of course, would have been used on the types of missions
where it would have been impractical or beyond the conventional
capabilities of the engineer battalion to accomplish the job.
They were withdrawn from Army inventory in the 1980's, probably
because, as one main reason, by the very nature of their surface
or subsurface bursts, there was a considerable problem with fallout
contaminating the area of the detonation, which in itself is
an obstacle to friendly mobility.
In contrast, doctrine for employment of tactical nuclear weapons
such as cannon artillery projectiles or missile warheads called
for their detonation in the air, at such a height of burst that
no part of the fireball at its maximum diameter would touch the
ground. This so-called "low airburst" ensured that
the only fallout produced would be from the debris of the weapon
itself. |
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