Military contractors will be snooping around Augusta's Daniel Field area this fall for evidence of unexploded bombs and bullets left behind by military training during World Wars I and II.

Indeed, tens of thousands of soldiers -- and plenty of mortars, grenades and machine guns -- were a common sight at Camp Hancock and other facilities over the years, but the firing ranges and former impact zones are now covered by apartment complexes, golf links and other development.

"At this point in the study, we'll be looking for information and historical data that people in Augusta may have," said Billy Birdwell, the spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, which will coordinate the assessment under a federal edict to evaluate "formerly used defense sites," or FUDS.

Evidence indicates training activities with ordnance occurred in many areas near Daniel Field, but not on the actual airport grounds.

"Daniel Field was sort of the center point for a wide area -- from here to Fort Gordon -- for World War I and II training sites," airport manager Willis Boshears said.

"There were no actual facilities on Daniel Field itself where they used weapons, but they've identified areas around here that were used for rifle ranges and that sort of thing."

During World War I, Augusta was selected as a training camp site in 1917 and the resulting tent city established near today's Wrightsboro Road was called Camp Hancock.

According to a history of the camp written by historian Joseph Lee III -- now retired and living in Covington, Ga. -- the site hosted 27,122 men in its first month and many more thereafter. The "official" camp covered 1,777 acres, but the entire tract was 13,811 acres.

"Wrightsboro Road and Wheeless Road (now Highland Avenue) ran through the camp, which featured nine miles of clay and sand roads," Mr. Lee wrote in a 1999 column for The Augusta Chronicle . "In its final configuration, Camp Hancock could accommodate 45,099 troops. The highest number of troops in camp in any one month was 35,148 in October 1918."

Mr. Birdwell said a contractor chosen to perform the assessment of the area will maintain reports for the public to view at Daniel Field. He also asks that residents with knowledge of sites that might include dangerous ordnance notify the corps.

"We want people to tell us where things took place and what we may want to look for," he said, noting that a similar assessment at former Camp Wheeler near Macon, Ga., yielded a host of unexploded munitions that were often within a few feet of occupied homes.

"Our contractor would determine if there is any danger from unexploded ordnance and decide if any actions are needed," Mr. Birdwell said. "If there is something that could cause risk, we may need to post warning signs or actually go out and conduct ground penetrating investigation."

The old munitions at Camp Wheeler were detonated.

"One area was on an old mortar range and we were blowing stuff up, literally, just a few feet from people's foundations," he said. "We were telling them not to dig in their gardens."

Statewide, there are more than 400 formerly used defense sites that are being explored on the basis of priority. The Augusta site is relatively high on the priority list because it lies within a now-developed metro area, he said.

"Most of these sites have nothing of concern," he said. "But if someone finds something, they should remember the 'Three R's' of unexploded munitions: Recognize, Retreat and Report."

Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119 or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.