Page 10 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 12-4-15

Dec. 4, 2015 NEWS
10 www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb
EOD Airmen train for mission where mistakes are lethal
Micah Garbarino +,//$,5)25&(%$6(8WDK
— On a windy Utah morning, under
Airmen with the 775th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight a cold, grey sky, an Airman moves his
participate in a training event at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, knife blade slowly through loose dirt
in November. Being an EOD technician requires Airmen toward a stick of dynamite with nitro-
to be adept in math, chemistry, forensics, mechanics, ad- glycerine crystals sweating through
vanced electrical circuits and have the ability to put the the paper casing. The Airman isn’t
knowledge to use under extreme pressure. sweating, but maybe he should be.
Standing over the Airman’s shoul-
der, a master sergeant calmly asks,
“Are you trying to kill us all?”
“No. What?”
“Think about it. What do you need
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:KDWIROORZVLVDGHWDLOHGVFLHQWLÀF improvised explosive devices, inves-
discussion on the chemical reactions
of base compounds. This was one of
many lessons learned by Airmen in
Hill Air Force Base’s 775th Explosive
Ordnance Disposal Flight during a
week-long training event in Novem-
ber.
While the stick of dynamite was
inert, the training reinforced that the
job of an explosive ordnance techni-
cian requires much more than the
willingness to don a bomb suit and
put oneself in harm’s way. It requires
brains, training and “thick skin.”
“We are our own worst critics,” said
Master Sgt. Richard Schmidt, train-
ing section chief for the 775th EOD
Flight. “Correcting our mistakes in
training will end up saving lives.”
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Thunderbolt
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There were nearly a dozen sce- 1st Class Cole Edwards of Manteca,
narios designed by veteran EOD California. “I’ve never been chal-
members to pass their knowledge lenged like that before, certainly not
down to younger Airmen, practicing in high school. But, you’re never going
LQWKHÀHOGZKDWKDGEHHQOHDUQHGLQ to learn everything. I’ve never been
the classroom. deployed, so it was good to get this
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”We can sit around all day long and
talk about this stuff, but until you face The job requires Airmen to be adept
a problem for real, you don’t really in math, chemistry, forensics, me-
have that experience that can keep chanics, advanced electrical circuits
you alive,” Schmidt said. and have the ability to put the knowl-
edge to use under extreme pressure.
For half of the week, the flight
concentrated on “stateside” scenarios “You’ve got to know all that and be
– X-raying suspicious packages for able to work with your hands, and
think on your feet,” Schmidt said,
tigating chemical weapons, process- a veteran of deployments to Iraq
ing a homemade explosives lab, and and Afghanistan. “Us old guys have
conducting post-blast analysis. They been through this. We want to show
spent the second half of the week them the techniques that will help
“freezing” in the snow in Utah’s west them stay alive and get through the
desert, practicing deployed scenarios problem.”
like land navigating to an improvised
rocket launcher and disarming IEDs Despite the stress and hazards
rigged with pressure plates. Airmen of working in EOD, the community
who make it to an EOD unit have remains a tight-knit group, Schmidt
already survived one of the toughest said.
schools in the Air Force, Schmidt said.
It’s nearly 10 months long and Airmen “Training and camping together in
often don’t know if they’ll make it the frozen desert helps build trust and
through or wash out on a day-to-day comradery,” he said. There’s a certain
basis. While their initial training is level of trust that comes with graduat-
rigorous, it can only go so far in devel- ing school, but, the more young Air-
oping a deployable EOD technician. men are able to show their abilities to
tackle a problem, the more trust and
“School was tough,” said Airman responsibility we give them.”
Courtesy of af.mil