During World War Two, the military established the nineteen thousand acre Fort Pierce NATB, active from 1943 to 1946, to prepare for operations on heavily fortified beaches in Europe and the South Pacific. The site was used to develop air- or water-borne methods and weapons designed to overcome enemy beach obstacles, and it also included several training ranges using a wide variety of munitions, from beach obstacle demolition and bombing to anti-aircraft artillery, rifle, pistol, and sub machine gun firing. Along with conventional bombs, bulk explosives, and rockets, the military used experimental explosive items in efforts to breach fortifications. Some munitions may still remain, though multiple investigations and removal actions on this formerly used defense site have removed and disposed of munitions-related material and remnant beach obstacles, and very few reports have followed those efforts. Because the beach and near-shore environment is dynamic and ever changing, munitions-related items can still be uncovered in the surf zone or during excavation work.