Saturday, April 26, 1997
Unarmed training armaments found in Ranger
By BARTON CROMEENS Staff Writer
RANGER - Metal crates containing missing United States Air
Force training missiles were recovered Friday from a building
supply store here.
The unarmed missiles were from a truck that disappeared from
Pentagon tracking computers Thursday en route to Clovis, N.M.
The truck's driver, Ronald D. Coy of Middletown, Ohio, was
arrested without incident at a truck stop 300 miles away in Orange,
near the Texas-Louisiana border, FBI agent Robert Loosle said.
"I didn't have a clue what was in the boxes," Ranger
Building Supply owner Martin Gohlke said. "I was totally
set back when I found out they were missiles. I kind of feel like
I ought to be in the next ultimate redneck song by Jeff Foxworthy."
Gohlke said he had agreed to store the containers in return
for $150 paid to him by Coy, who said his vehicle was experiencing
mechanical problems.
Gohlke said he found out about the crates' contents Friday
morning when Eastland County Sheriff Wayne Bradford asked him
if he knew what he was storing in his lumberyard.
Each crate contained one AGM-130 training missile.
Air Force officials said the missiles weren't equipped with
working warheads or explosives and posed no risk to the public.
The devices, each worth about $150,000, carry infrared and laser
guidance equipment, which allow pilots to fly attack patterns
and get computerized data.
According to a Pentagon spokesman, the dummy missiles are strapped
onto planes and cannot be dropped.
Ranger Police Chief Don Enix, who was at Ranger Building Supply
when Coy asked Gohlke to store the crates Wednesday morning, said
the truck driver explained that the bed of his trailer was giving
him problems and the trailer's tires were going bald.
"I asked him what he was carrying, and he said, 'Military
parts - you know how the government is,' " Enix said. "We
left it at that, and I went on about my business."
The aluminum crates, marked as containing "transformers,"
were en route to Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, N.M., from a
Boeing plant in Duluth, Ga., for use in air defense exercises.
"I was totally set back when I learned what was really
in the crates," Gohlke said. "I was interviewed by the
FBI, CNN, every news network imaginable. This is as crazy as I've
ever seen it around here."
FBI agents and members of Dyess Air Force Base's detachment
of the Office of Special Investigation (OSI) converged upon Ranger
to investigate the incident.
The four training missiles were recovered and transferred to
Dyess Air Force Base, the closest Department of Defense facility,
for safekeeping, public affairs officer Capt. Nomi Russi said.
They will be shipped to Clovis at a later, unspecified date.
Gohlke told authorities that Coy said he was going to take
his truck to Fort Worth for repairs and return Thursday for the
cargo.
"He was a real nice guy, and I didn't think much of it,"
Gohlke said. "I've stored things for people before, and they
don't always come back exactly when they say they will to pick
their things up. I just figured this guy was an independent driver
for the military."
The Pentagon routinely uses private contractors that meet security
standards to carry munitions.
Authorities said the truck, which was carrying a tracking beacon
monitored by satellite, was last observed Thursday about 500 miles
from its destination - headed in the wrong direction.
Standard military practice is to place tracking equipment on
trucks carrying weapons and other sensitive equipment. Once a
vehicle has been missing for four hours, trackers call state police.
Coy's intentions were not immediately known. Nor was it clear
whether he was even authorized to haul weapons for the military.
"We just detained him to question him," Loosle said.
"Once we finish the interview based on the investigation,
we'll have to decide what happens next."
The FBI said he could face such charges as theft of an interstate
shipment and theft of government property.
According to the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles, Coy's commercial
driver's license was suspended indefinitely in March because of
an unspecified violation in another state.
Coy also was named in January as a suspect in a theft case
reported by SOS Transport Inc. of Monroe, Ohio, where he formerly
worked under contract, said Monroe police Capt. Tom Bishop.
The Army's Military Traffic Management Command sets the requirements
a contractor must meet to haul sensitive equipment. The agency
has a list of 19 authorized haulers that meet its standards.
MTMC spokeswoman Corenthia Libby said the main security requirements
are that trucks be equipped with satellite monitors and that each
truck have two drivers.
Both Gohlke and Enix said Coy appeared to be alone when he
brought the truck to Ranger and unloaded his cargo.
Air Force spokesman Maj. Robert Koon said contractors can also
require that drivers have security background checks, but such
checks are not required by the MTMC.
Another truck, this one carrying machine guns and mortars to
Camp Pendleton, Calif., was reported missing in central Texas
on Thursday but turned up hours later after the driver's company
credit card was rejected at an El Paso truck stop. The company
had canceled the card in hopes that the driver would call.
The Pentagon said the rig's tracking beacon had merely failed,
and the driver didn't know he was being sought.
This report includes information from The Associated Press,
Staff Writer Bob Bruce, and correspondent Maybelle Trout.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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