Zhang Baoguo: An Expert in Explosive Ordnance Disposal

Song Ge

An Expert in its True Sense

Zhang Baoguo was assigned to work with the Ordnance Maintenance and Testing Institute affiliated to the Jinan Military Command in 1988 after graduating from the ammunition technology major at Ordnance Engineering College of the People's Liberation Army. But he requested to serve at a military ammo repair station in a remote area instead. Though dealing with waste ammo was dangerous， Zhang thought that he could gain experience from their repair and disposal and apply what he learned to daily practice.

His arrival coincided with a campaign to standardize military ammo repair stations across the country. Zhang's expertise gained at university helped him complete the installation of three assembly lines for a renovated workshop as scheduled.

While working， Zhang found it wasteful and dangerous to detonate expired ammo for disposal. If the explosive elements and the steel containers could be collected separately， it would save a lot for the nation. The idea sounded simple， but it was hard to deliver， so he asked his colleagues to buy him various technical books when they were in town. As he was busy at work during daytime， he could only do experiments under the guidance of various books at night. A few months later， Zhang invented the "Inverted TNT Explosives Sheeting Equipment" and won the National Third Prize for Military， Scientific and Technological Advancement. The device is still in wide use nowadays.

Zhang received awards nearly every year for his scientific achievements when he worked at the station， earning himself some renown among his counterparts in that region. Due to his expertise， he was transferred to Jinan Municipal Public Security Bureau as an urgently-needed professional in Explosive Ordnance Disposal （EOD） in 1999， becoming the only systematically-trained EOD technician in the bureau.

An Unforgettable Test

His first mission at the new job was unforgettable for the highly-skilled technician. It was September 11， 1999， the tenth day since he took the new post. Sometime after 7 p.m.， Zhang arrived at the scene and found nine home-made bombs.

He quickly analyzed the composition of the bombs. The biggest bomb was made of a beer bottle stuffed with explosives， weighing as much as 1 kg！ What was worse， the bottle was covered by over a hundred steel balls， which meant if it exploded， the beads would come off as bullets and lead to terrible consequences. Three bombs were made of wrist-thick T-branch fittings and the other five steel pipes.

All these self-made bombs were totally different from what he used to deal with in the army. Military bombs are standardized and he knew them very well from his 15-year practice. However， he was frustrated by these self-made gadgets.

Right at that moment， Zhang spotted two buckets full of water in the corner. "That's it， drop them in water！" Submerged in water， the ignition device will fail. Zhang put all the bombs carefully into the buckets， which mitigated the risk for the time being.

The next day， Zhang and his colleagues transported the bombs to the outskirts of town for disposal. Zhang tried to throw the bottle while hiding behind a cover to see what was inside. As soon as the bottle hit the ground， it exploded. Inside the bottle were highly volatile explosives which would detonate with even a slight collision.

Zhang reflected on this mission for quite some time. He became fully aware that from then on， he would be faced with different perilous situations. His existing know-how for standardized ammo disposal was far from enough.

Ever since then， Zhang has been visiting electronics markets on weekends to buy the latest parts and components for study. He believed that only by understanding them thoroughly could he be prepared for all kinds of situations and be able to instantly deal with bombs made with electronic parts. Every time a major explosion took place in China or beyond， he would search for reports， photos and video resources and ask young colleagues to analyze the explosive compositions and features together. Over these years， Zhang has read many books on mechanics， electronics， psychology， and EODs， and filled over 30 notebooks with his notes. Thanks to his systematic and theoretical study and excellent skills， Zhang soon became an urgently-needed police technician in on-site EOD. He was named a "Top-Level Professional of the Shangdong Province Public Security System，" elected as one of the 14 members of the China Explosion-Prevention Security Check Expert Commission and included in the Talent Pool on the Management of Explosive Articles.

A Grievous Accident

March 2， 2005 was a painful day for Zhang. He and his colleagues were to destroy a batch of shells and bombs： To be specific， 57 shells， 7 smoke pots and 15 kilograms of mixed explosives and powders. As one smoke pot was long expired and severely eroded， its smoke agent and incendiary agent had leaked into the air at the preparation stage， susceptible to spontaneous combustion. Zhang shouted for reporters and his colleagues to run away， while he himself dashed toward the burning pot to kick it away. Suddenly yellow phosphorus， the incendiary agent， leaked and ignited the explosive， leaving Zhang devoured in a rising fireball.

This accident caused burns on 8 percent of Zhangs total body surface area， a second-degree burn on his face and a deep second-degree burn on his hands. The skin of his hands was destroyed and the nerves were so damaged that his fingers could not stretch or bend freely， causing serious problems for his life and work.

In order to avoid trouble for his family and return to his beloved post， Zhang chose a painful option： skin grafting and rehabilitation. Even at present， two 50 centimeters-long scars are visible on his body. They are the results of two major skin transplant surgeries.

Zhang never flinched in the face of danger and agony. He returned to work three days after being discharged from hospital. At that time， new tissues were just coming out of his transplanted skin and he would swell up when exposed to the sun. His hands were just healed but still in thick bandages. But he quickly took up a new assignment， cordoned the scene， worked out solutions and instructed his colleagues to finish the field work. Under his guidance， they concluded the mission smoothly.

He has been suffering from serious aftereffects in the hands since that accident. Others' hands may crack in winter， but Zhang's bleed even in summer. As sweat glands are absent in parts of his skin， he is unable to sweat and always feels itchy. To quench the unbearable itch， he will throw his hands on a bottle of boiled water， hoping the burning pain to kill the insufferable itch.

However， Zhang did not waver. Instead， he became even more determined to fulfill his responsibilities. So he set a rule for his team： "I am the first EOD technician in terms of order. So I must go first when duty calls. If I die， the one with the longest membership of the Communist Party should step forward." This rule is still in effect today.

A Race Against Time

Serious about every field exercise， Zhang takes each as a real OED incident. He knows that behind each successful story are countless tough exercises.

Every exercise should consist of all the procedures， including answering a report and testing every single piece of equipment. Every step must be done cautiously and the whole process must be flawless to ensure that their work meets the requirements of a real situation. In this way， they can grow accustomed to all kinds of tools and procedures and hone their skills and patience.

Zhang believes that EOD vehicles， robots， suits， manipulators， and frequency interferometers are all allies in real practice. Only by putting tireless and meticulous efforts into training can one be familiar with the operations and avoid accidents.

On July 9， 2004， right before the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in Jinan， a department store in the city received a phone call threatening that a bomb had been installed in its building. The suspect requested the store to transfer 200，000 yuan to a designated account before 3 p.m. Upon notice， Zhang rushed to the scene， but it was already 2：45 p.m.—only 15 minutes to go. Zhang and his team began to immediately search the venue， which covered tens of thousands of square meters， and found a parcel in a locker.

Zhang put on an EOD suit and started to examine the suspicious item. He opened the parcel by his left hand and heard tick-tock sounds from inside. He reminded himself to stay calm， operated the manipulator adeptly， and took hold of the suspicious explosive. Then he moved it out quickly to a riverside away from the crowds for disposal.

It was sometime after 9 p.m. on January 2， 2014， and Zhang was going to sleep when his mobile phone rang. Staff at the consignment department of a logistics center smelled gasoline from a batch of goods to be delivered out of town. So they asked the two consignors to open it. Unexpectedly， the consignors fled in a panic. Realizing something was wrong， they called the police for help.

Zhang found a 60-cm-by-60-cm carton on the ground soon after he arrived. The suspicious explosive was too large for the X-ray detector so he could only open it for further examination.

Firstly， Zhang instructed his members to set up a frequency interferometer in case the item was controlled by a remote device. Then they placed fire extinguishers around it in case of accidental detonation. Zhang donned his EOD suit as usual， grabbed a sharp EOD knife， and laid on the ground to take a closer look.

He used the knife to cut open the carton's four corners with extreme caution， but the sly suspect had stuffed it with shredded paper to cover the core part. He took out the shreds little by little and found a dozen liters of gasoline in plastic bottles of different sizes， two packs of black powder， a motorcycle storage battery， electric wires， fuses， and an electronic timer. Through careful analysis， Zhang drew a circuit diagram in his mind. Then he took a pair of scissors to cut off the key wire to defuse the bomb. When he saw that the timer had been set at 23：00， he gasped in fear. It was a narrow escape and he was only 10 minutes away from death.

A Resolute Answer

Although Zhang is quite familiar with EODs， he cannot forget the biggest aircraft bomb he encountered in 2004. On an early morning in May， a heavy bomb was excavated on the site of the Jingyi Road expansion project in Jinan. Upon receiving the report， Zhang and his team rushed to the scene and were startled by what they saw. It was a 500-pound aero bomb， larger than two gas cylinders combined. The bomb was so powerfully destructive that an explosion would mean a 10-meter-diameter crater and heavy damage to buildings within 100 meters， unavoidably causing heavy casualties. As the situation was complex， the bomb could not be disposed on site but only transported to a designated place for special treatment.

To absorb impact during transportation， Zhang placed a thick layer of fine-grained soil in a truck. Then he jumped into the excavation and carefully fastened the bomb with iron wires and ropes together with his colleagues. Making sure that it was properly fastened over and again， they moved it onto the truck.

The sight of the bomb in his truck sent the driver into such a panic that he refused to go. Zhang tapped on his shoulder： “Dont panic， brother. Ill go with you. Itll be OK.” As the driver started the engine and drove toward the disposal station 70 kilometers away， Zhang kept reminding him to slow down. The hour-long trip took them three hours. Finally， boom！ Smokes rose into the sky and the bomb was detonated. It was all clear！

The job of an EOD police officer is tedious because they have to face their silent equipment every day. Many people dont understand why they insist on doing such dangerous work. Isn't it much safer to destroy the explosives directly？ Actually， its not the case. Just as Zhang said： "As a policeman， what we do is to identify suspects from equipment that does not speak. So we must collect some devices to provide a full chain of evidence， trying to settle each case in an irreversible way."

Prior to the National Day in 2016， two residents from Jimo District of Qingdao City received five parcels containing explosives. When detected， the suspect detonated self-made bombs to commit suicide. The blast broke through his three-storeyed house. As an EOD technician， Zhang was assigned to settle the case at a very short notice. He set up a task force on site and began to defuse the parcel bombs manually. He identified the key electric wire through detailed analysis and careful consideration. Zhang cut off the wire and handed over the remaining core components， which formed a complete chain of evidence， to the criminal investigation department as solid proof to end the case.

Over the past 20 years， Zhang has served for the security of various international forums and conferences across China. Once， he was in charge of the security inspection of a major event. His team didn't finish the work until 2：30 p.m. and none of them had lunch. However， Zhang found something went haywire. A door remained unsealed in the basement which led to the kitchen. He has set three rules for security inspections： No one stays in the venue; no channel should be left open; and no one enters without a security check. So Zhang concluded that the venue failed to meet the security standards and they had to check it all over again.

EOD is a pressing and demanding job that leaves life at the mercy of risk. Zhangs scars remind him that life is precious and he must learn and work relentlessly and consistently to better safeguard life and security. This is the original aspiration of an EOD policeman！

（Translated by Agnes）