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Sept. 25, 2015 Thunderbolt
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Operation Enduring Training 2015
EOD EOD
Gold
sharpens skills bein
EOD Airmen engage in small-unit tactics and live-fire Story and photos by Airman 1st Class dry, flat desert studded by hills, cliff sides and arid Staf
training at the range. Operation Enduring Training RIDGE SHAN vegetation. rem
2015 teaches and maintains combat-ready skills to ber,
Airmen based at Luke and other nearby installations. 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs “The range complex does an incredible job of simulat- 3, 20
ing the environment of the Middle East,” Riddle said. min
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Airmen from the 56th “All of the problems the teams faced were derived in
Civil Engineer Squadron at Luke Air Force Base and some fashion from reports gathered throughout the
other Air Force units around the region participated in entirety of the Operation Enduring Freedom campaign
the third annual EOD combat predeployment training in Afghanistan.”
exercise dubbed “Operation Enduring Training” from
Sept. 3 through 7 at the Barry M. Goldwater Range Teams faced scenarios in which they had to find,
in Gila Bend south west of Luke. defuse and destroy both improvised explosive devices
and conventional unexploded ordnance commonly
The exercise maintains combat readiness in EOD found in enemy weapons caches, all while facing the
teams by exposing them to the operational tempo ex- constant threat of simulated enemy attacks and am-
pected of them in actual combat zones, and simulates bushes. Additionally, teams spent significant time at
living conditions, hostile environments and explosive the firing range to improve individual combat skills.
threats that deployed EOD Airmen regularly face.
“The EOD Airmen involved in this training are
“The purpose of the training is to reinforce the eas- given the opportunity to practice and enhance neces-
ily perishable skills needed in running contingency sary skills like small-team tactics, live-fire shooting,
operations in a time where deployments are few and contingency IED problems, and living and setting up
far between,” said Senior Airman William Riddle, 56th a bare fire base,” Riddle said.
CES EOD team leader and instructor. “The training
exercises the mental and physical capabilities neces- As the landscape of today’s wars begins to shift and
sary to handle high pressure situations.” change, the continued benefits of the exercise are ex-
traordinarily important to not only EOD Airmen, but
The multi-day continuous exercise takes place at the the entire military community, Riddle said.
Barry M. Goldwater Range in Gila Bend southwest of
Phoenix. Littered in shells, casings and inert practice “As the drawdown of combat deployments continues,
munitions dropped by a wide variety of aircraft over this training serves to augment skills already learned
many years, the range is a huge remote stretch of and teach newer EOD technicians the skills that could
ultimately save countless lives.”
Senior Airman Dylan England, 56th CES team mem- Staff Sgt. Michael Harvaki, 56th CES EOD team leader, naps The shell is ejected (upper right side of photo)
ber, pilots a remote-controlled robot under the super- during a break in training Sept. 3 at Gila Bend. Operation En- rison, 56th CES EOD team leader, fires an M4 a
vision of his team leader, Tech. Sgt. Michael Dove. during Training 2015 pits EOD Airmen against realistic and gru-
eling challenges which simulate the hostile environment they
may encounter in deployed combat zones.
