In what is undoubtedly one of the oddest local junk yard finds,
MacDill's ordnance disposal team confirmed the July 11 find was indeed a Patriot, minus "the part on top that goes boom," Lt. Omar Villarreal, a MacDill spokesman.
For munitions purists, that would be the warhead.
Airman
Lucas Mefford, a member of MacDill's ordnance team, said the missile still had its rocket motor and guidance system. He said it appears to have been a training model.
"It's pretty rare to find a Patriot,"
Mefford said. That's rare, as in never. MacDill officials say they can't ever recall another report of a Patriot turning up on private property.
"When we get calls from people," Mefford said, "they tend to find old water heaters that look like missiles."
How a Patriot missile made its way to an Ybor metal scrap yard remains a mystery.
Scrap
All officials declined to comment. The people who have made Patriots since the 1970s, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, said it's not theirs.
And the U.S. Army, which buys and uses the missiles, would not comment.
Patriots are also sold to allied nations.
Not that MacDill is looking for the Patriot's owner, who might be identified through a serial number usually stamped on all missiles.
Villarreal said the missile is considered harmless, surplus garbage with little value and no classified parts.
"If it was something that could have harmed somebody, I guarantee we'd be tracing where it came from," he said. "It's just useless junk."
