Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families		Classification Programs Division
Release Date:  August 2001		Section Fifty-four of Sixty-six

6500 - AMMUNITION, EXPLOSIVES, AND TOXIC MATERIALS WORK FAMILY

This job family includes occupations involved in the manufacturing, assembling, disassembling, renovating, loading, deactivating, modifying, destroying, testing, handling, placing, and discharging of ammunition, propellants, chemicals and toxic materials, and other conventional and special munitions and explosives.

Throughout the following information, an asterisk (*) stands for series with a published standard and a double asterisk (**) stands for series with a published flysheet.

Occupations in this family are:

6502 Explosives Operating*

This occupation includes jobs involved in the manufacture of powder, propellant grains, solid or liquid explosives, and mixtures for flares or signals, and the manufacture, assembly, disassembly, renovation, modification, and deactivation of ammunition, explosives, or chemical or toxic filled munitions. Included are jobs that involve operation of equipment, jigs, or machines that were designed or modified to perform particular munitions operations. This work requires a knowledge of explosives and explosives safety practices, the ability to operate equipment that is designed or modified for munitions operations, and the skill to safely perform operations with explosives.

6505 Munitions Destroying*

This occupation includes jobs involved in the destruction of ammunition, explosives, propellants, and toxic munitions. This work requires a knowledge of demolition procedures, the ability to recognize various types of bulkexplosives, and the skill to place munitions and initiating charges.

6511 Missile/Toxic Materials Handling

This occupation includes jobs involved in readying and handling, for storage, transfer or shipment, of explosive or toxic munitions such as poison gases, radioactive materials, or solid propellant ballistic missiles that require strictly controlled temperature or humidity, limitation of shock and vibration, or frequent checks to prevent physical or chemical changes that would make them unsafe or prevent proper operations. This work requires knowledge of the explosive or toxic munitions materials and of mechanical details of containers and controls. Readying and handling include mechanical assembly and disassembly of munitions and containers, such as checking and replacing environmental controls, attaching pads, positioning pads precisely and tightening to close tolerance; frequent checking of condition for replacement or repair of containers or components; and, often, careful transporting in order not to exceed critical acceleration, vibration, temperature, or similar characteristic limitations.

6517 Explosives Test Operating*

This occupation includes jobs involved in the functional testing of explosives, pyrotechnics, propellant grains, and ammunition to discover characteristics such as dispersion patterns, velocity, and range. This requires knowledge of explosives, explosive devices, and environmental conditioning and functional testing practices.