What a blast!

So, the other day Lieutenant Danek and I went to the otherside of the airfield to check on the progress of our new mail processing facility, the Regional Mail Distribution Center (RMDC), and also to check on the guys sorting mail at the temporary RMDC. This is nothing new, we go out there nearly every day. This particular day there had been a number of what are called "controlled detonations". This is when the demolition guys blow stuff up in a controlled situation. On our way back there was an announcement of a "controlled detonation (det) in one minute." Okay, no big deal they'd been doing them all day long. We had just gone over a speed bump (there's a speed bump every 50 yards or so, but that's a different story all together) and were approaching the rifle and pistol range, where we practice shooting our weapons, when the controlled det went off. BOOM! Apparently, and we did not know this before, the detonation area is right next to the range. We were less than fifty meters away from the explosion. HOLY CRAP! Next thing I know there are rocks raining down around us and our hearts our pounding in our chests. That was a little too close for comfort. Fortunately, the detonation area is surrounded by 20 foot walls so the blast concussion is channelled upward instead of out. Now we know where not to be when they announce controlled dets in the future.