The Bombing Targets of the Imperial
Valley
Military Jets Zoom In On Pummeled Mounds
Bombing targets are located throughout the
country, on lands closed to public access, though the group of
targets operated by the Navy in the Imperial Valley, at the southeastern
corner of California, are unique in a number of respects, most
noticeably their even, circular form.
Navy Target 103: The westernmost target,
located northwest of Plaster City. Features include a tank
target at the top of the bulls-eye mound, and a heavy blast
shadow.
CLUI photo
In use since the 1960's, these five separate targets
are grouped in four distinct restricted areas, two on the east
side of the valley, and two on the west side. Each target is approximately
300 feet across, and consists of three concentric circles, made
of dirt and old tires, that surround a central "bulls-eye"
mound. Some of the center mounds are topped with target objects,
such as the hulks of tanks and other military vehicles, or large
metal objects, like water tanks.
This target is located west of the Range
Control Center for the training and gunnery ranges on the
west side of the Imperial Valley. Like Target 103,it too
has a tank hulk on the center mound.
CLUI photo by Walt Cotten
Despite almost continuous daily use during all but
the summer months, the targets maintain their form because the
bombs dropped on them are inert. These practice bombs (mostly
Mk 76's, Mk 83's and BDU 45's and 48's, and small blue practice
bombs), are either empty casings or casings filled with cement.
Upon impact, a small indicator charge on the tip of the bomb emits
a puff of smoke, so observers can pinpoint the location of impact.
The targets are also straffed with 20mm and 50 caliber machine
gun fire from passing aircraft.
Navy Target 101, located on the north
side of the superstition mountains,
has recently been cleaned up, and has a fresh coating of
white powder on the central mound.
CLUI photo by Walt Cotten
Navy Target 95 is located next to the
Mammoth Wash Off-Highway Vehicle Area, on the eastern side
of the Imperial Valley.
CLUI photo
All of the targets are located in restricted areas
adjacent to designated off-highway vehicle recreation zones. Signage,
and in some cases fencing, protect the targets from inadvertent
intrusion. However, scrappers and trophy hunters do visit these
locations, with few reports of incidents. Much of the lands beyond
and between the targets have been used for bombing practice by
the military since World War Two, and unexploded ordnance, as
well as bomb fragments and debris, are occasionally discovered
on public land.
Navy Target 68 is a few miles south of
State Highway 78, next to the Imperial Sand Dunes. Apparently
the least tended of the five Imperial Valley targets, the
land around the target is littered with hundreds of bomb
casings.
