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Regarding the "Mysterious" ADM Platoon

Pictured in the 1963 3AD Yearbook

(See "ADM Platoon" on Weapons Inventory index) By Section Editor: Robert M. Forrest 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 They were withdrawn from Army inventory in the 1980's, probably because, as one main reason, by the very nature of their surface or subsurface bursts, there was a considerable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. Vets Speak Index NEXT