My buddy Brad attended Explosive Ordnance Disposal School at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Indian Head, Maryland.  Trainee EOD specialists from all military branches go through this school.  Likewise, instructors come from all branches of service.  One particular instructor was from the U.S. Air Force and he recounted a interesting tale from his first assignement as a newly-minted EOD technican.

 

Sergeant Smith, newly arrived at West Coast Air Force Base, had just moved into base housing with his wife.  Shortly after he arrived, his wife was waxing ecstatic about some new clothes line she and a bunch of other wives had gotten from Supply -- really neat stuff, plastic coated and a pretty color to boot.  It occurred to Sergeant Smith that this "clothes line" sounded familiar.  He asked his wife to show him the "clothes line."  Hm-m-m-m.  Clothes line has the correct color, clothes line has the white inner core,  clothes line has the markings for -- primacord or detonating cord.

 

Sergeant Smith made a hurried call to the EOD office on base.  Another group of specialists came over and confirmed Sergeant Smith's finding.  The next order of business was to find all the other lengths of "clothes line" that had been issued to other wives by Supply.  No one was ever able to determine how a spool of detonating cord had found its way into Supply or why no one had recognized the "clothes line" for what it really was.  Fortunately, detonating cord only becomes dangerous when mated to a blasting cap.  Had that happened, it would have made for a very interesting laundry day.