Page 4 - Fort Irwin High Desert Warrior, May 2022

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High Desert Warrior May 2022
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U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal NCOs lead from front for 80 years
Silver Valley High School Staff of the Month:
Yolanda Curlee-Olivas, Physical Education Teacher/Cross Country Coach/Track Coach
Ms. Curlee-Olivas is our Physical Education Teacher at Silver Valley High School. Additionally, she is the Cross Country and Track Coach. Yolanda goes above and beyond to ensure all of her students are prepared for life after high school. As a coach, she is highly respected among her peers. Coach Curlee-Olivas’ athletes have a tremen- dous amount of success each season. Coach is always willing to help and sup- port any event on our campus. We are very fortunate to have Coach Curlee- Olivas at Silver Valley High School.
Silver Valley High School Student of the Month:
Derek Eide, 12th Grade
Derek is a senior at Silver Val- ley High School who helped lead our Basketball team to a league title. The team finished the league season undefeated and advanced to the 2nd round of playoffs. Derek was voted as the MVP of the Agape League as well as a member of the All CIF-SS team. Derek is a great student who is looking forward to continuing his basketball career at a college after graduation. All of the staff appreciates Derek’s hard work and dedication to everything he does at Silver Valley High School and for the community.
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Maryland – U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal noncommissioned officers have defeated dangerous explosive devices and molded EOD teams since the Army EOD profession began more than 80 years ago at the Bomb Disposal School on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
The U.S. Army began training the first enlisted Bomb Disposal Soldiers, the predecessors to today’s EOD technicians, in April 1942 following the establishment of the British Bomb Squad to defeat time-delayed bombs dropped during World War II.
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the former home to the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, which moved to Fort Lee, Virginia, in 2008. Today, it is the home base for the 20th Chemi- cal, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier all hazards formation.
The 20th CBRNE Command is home to 75 percent of the Active Duty U.S. Army’s EOD technicians and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear specialists, as well as the 1st Area Medical Laboratory, CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity, five Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Teams and three Nuclear Disablement Teams.
Soldiers and civilians from 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards and threats in support of joint, interagency and allied operations.
Army EOD noncommissioned officers ensure EOD tech- nicians are ready to safeguard U.S. forces and enable military operations around the world.
According to 1st Sgt. Roger D. Rich, the senior enlisted leader of the 18th Ordnance Company (EOD), Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers have to be ready to respond at any minute to a wide variety of missions, from Immediate Response Force deployments to supporting the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s efforts to locate prisoner of war and missing in action service members from past conflicts in explosive-ridden areas.
“What makes the U.S. Army EOD technician special is our ability to develop creative solutions to complex problems and accomplish the mission regardless of the situation,” said Rich, a Madison, North Carolina, native and Master EOD technician who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. “Although the EOD community often finds itself confronted with a multitude of obstacles, in garrison and while deployed, we are able to band together and help one another achieve success.”
“The 18th Ordnance Company (EOD) is unique because of the culture that we have,” said Rich. “Every Soldier has a voice and their opinion matters. Everyone is involved in every aspect of what the company does.”
A former combat engineer, Rich saw firsthand the importance of strong NCO leadership to keep Soldiers ready for the crucible of combat. He decided to become an Army EOD technician after serving on route clearance missions.
The 18th EOD Company recently returned home to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after serving as the sole Explosive Ord- nance Disposal company in Iraq for six months in support of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant.
The company completed hundreds of missions in Iraq focused on partner force development while also supporting Special Operations Forces and defeating a wide variety of different ex- plosives. They also confronted enemy fixed wing and rotary wing Unmanned Aerial Systems designed to target U.S. and coalition forces during the deployment.
The 18th EOD Company “Voodoo” is part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and 20th CBRNE Command.
EOD forces have rendered safe over 100,000 improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006 and they have also trained thousands of host nation forces.
Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin O. Brinkmeyer served at Forward Operating Base Danger in Iraq from 2004 – 2005. A former National Guardsmen who went on Active Duty in 2001, Brinkmeyer had served as an infantry Soldier and construction equipment repairer. He was ready to leave the Army during his
Iraq deployment before a 55mm rocket nosed in right next to his front door. His platoon sergeant asked him to get EOD techni- cians to take care of it.
“I didn’t even know who they were. When I knocked on the front door, their first sergeant answered it,” said Brinkmeyer, a native of Hubbard, Iowa. “He was hard on me and made me question everything I thought that video games and movies had taught me. He made me fill sand bags and knock on every door and clear the area. After he destroyed the rocket, he asked me if I wanted to do the job.”
The EOD first sergeant invited Brinkmeyer to stop by the following day. He walked Brinkmeyer through their quarters and introduced him to their mission.
“I don’t think I was what he was looking for or maybe he was just planting a seed,” said Brinkmeyer. “He told me I couldn’t do (on the job EOD training) and that I probably wasn’t smart enough to do it anyway. I left there confused and angry.”
Later during the deployment, when his reenlistment window opened, Brinkmeyer knew exactly what he wanted.
Today, 17 years later, Brinkmeyer is a Master EOD Technician and the senior enlisted leader for the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-
See EOD, Page 5
For more information go to home.army.mil/irwin