Continuing from Part 3…
Part 4: The EOD Technician
“Initial Success, or Total Failure.” That is our EOD motto. It was taught to us from Day One. Our job is either completely successful, or it can turn to total tragedy, death, and failure. No pressure, right?? All EOD Technicians operate in extreme pressure environments and against the odds most of the time. The only thing we have is our sense of being the best EOD operator on the planet, and rigorous training.
As stated in the 2007 book Proximity, written by Stephen Philips:
The Sailors of the United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) community perform under pressure in the hazardous job of bomb disposal, often deep beneath the sea...alone. An EOD Technician must have the brains of an engineer, the hands of a surgeon, and the courage of a martyr. In the U.S. Navy, carrier flight operations only occur under the watchful eye of EOD Techs ready to respond to ordnance accidents. U.S. Marines assault enemy beachheads only after EOD Techs clear the littoral seas and landing zones of mines. The U.S. Secret Service even relies on military bomb squads to protect the President and visiting foreign dignitaries. Perhaps the best testimony of their value is that when the Navy needs to place a limpet mine under an enemy ship it tasks the Navy SEALs, but to respond to such an attack - the Navy summons EOD.
I could not have described my community any better. Back in 2006, we were one of the last small specialty units left in the U.S Navy arsenal. We are called to perform many different jobs and tasks that have made my community gain a reputation of being “Jack of All Trades and Masters of None.” Or having “Brass Balls”!
I also love this quote from the book Service, A Navy SEAL at War by Marcus Luttrell and James D. Hornfischer:
“Our EOD guys were among the most important people in the squadron. They are different from SEALs. They are the techies of our world, intuitive, interested in how things work, and more than a little paranoid about what type of infernal mechanism might be waiting for us around the next corner. They were gear-heads, and warriors, too.”
The fact is, there can be dozens of books written about an EOD technician’s missions and career. My goal is to provide cognitive and intellectual insight of what it takes to process complex problems with near precision and accuracy, and explain how EOD techs prepare, evaluate, adjust, and avoid the explosive threat from my personal perspective and experience…how we dealt with the explosive threat when it presented itself, before, during and after all types of military operations.
Navy EOD Technicians are trained to do whatever is needed for that specific time, on that specific mission, with specific objectives. The job of the EOD technician is vast. The person who becomes an EOD technician must have complete focus, technical and situational percipience, mental toughness, and unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.
The History of EOD
The British formed their first bomb disposal units during WWII in direct response to the increased frequency of the unexploded ordnance (UXO). UXOs have always represented problems since the introduction of explosives into warfare, but no one recognized the need for special units until Germany began to use long-delay and anti-disturbance fuzes in their bombs that brought British industry to a halt.
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Draper L. Kauffman (1911-1979), also known as the “Father of U.S. Bomb Disposal,” served in the UK prior to U.S. involvement in WWII, where he learned bomb disposal techniques firsthand from the British bomb disposal units (BDUs). Admiral Kauffman performed bomb disposal techniques on unexploded ordnance in Pearl Harbor after the surprise Japanese attack.
The U.S. recognized the need for trained BDUs after the destructive bombing raids on England. In 1942, Admiral Kauffman established the first U.S. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) School. In 1945, the Department of Defense (DoD) combined all BDU training sites into one all-service school at the Naval Ordnance Station, Indian Head, MD, just outside Washington D.C., where EOD originated.
In 1971, the DoD consolidated the EOD Technology and Training Programs and designated the Secretary of the Navy as the single manager. In the early 1990s, NAVSCOLEOD (Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal) began to move portions of training from Indian Head, MD to Eglin Air Force Base, FL and completed transition in 2005. A U.S. Navy Rear Admiral serves as the Executive Manager and has the responsibility to develop and maintain an EOD Technology and Training program capable to meet the operational requirements of the Joint Service EOD community. The Commanding Officer of NAVSCOLEOD serves as the designated Deputy Manager for Training.
The Meaning of the Military EOD Technician Badge
The "crab", as it is commonly known, is the only joint service badge and can only be earned upon successful completion of the 42-week course at the Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (NAVSCOLEOD) located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
THE WREATH is symbolic of the achievements and laurels gained by minimizing accident potentials through the ingenuity and devotion to duty of its members. It is in memory of the EOD personnel who have given their lives while performing EOD duties.
THE BOMB was copied from the design of the World War II Bomb Disposal Badge; the bomb represents the historic and major objective of the EOD attack: the unexploded bomb. The three fins represent the major areas of nuclear, conventional, and chemical/biological warfare.
THE LIGHTNING BOLTS symbolize the potential destructive power of the bomb and the courage and professionalism of EOD personnel in their endeavors to reduce hazards as well as to render explosive ordnance harmless.
THE SHIELD represents the EOD mission, which is to protect personnel and property in the immediate area from an inadvertent detonation of hazardous ordnance.
My Life Before the Navy
In 1997 I worked for a power line hazardous tree removal company in Santa Cruz Ca. At the time I was working for Renee Godon Hazardous Tree removal company. It was a new company full of crazy ass loggers. Mostly Northern California loggers. We felled massive, massive trees. It is quite mind blowing and hard to explain the prehistoric size of these Northern California Redwood and Sequoia trees we loggers would fall.
I ran a bucket truck or boom truck and climbing crew. I was making incredibly good money for being twenty-two years old. Any tree or tree limb that was within four feet of any power line in the Santa Cruz mountains, we were responsible for clearing. If you have not been there, it is quite amazing. Old growth fir trees, madrones, and oak trees. Massively steep rolling mountains. Almost perfect weather on the hotter side.
I was working in a national forest park in the Santa Cruz mountains, climbing a black oak tree that had one third of its limbs overhanging 12,000-volt (12-kV) power lines. And eighty percent of the tree was dead and leaning towards the power lines. Another day at the office, I thought.
The tree itself was on a raised piece of land through which the road was carved, and leaning towards the power lines. The power poles were at the road level, making the oak tree even taller in height. My bucket or boom truck was not tall enough to reach the limbs that needed to be removed first. The only live part was the piece of the tree trunk that was on the opposite side from the direction it was leaning. Twenty percent of the tree was holding itself up. It was a hazardous tree that was threatening the national forest and the communities around it. Forest fires in that area were a huge hazard that risked the lives of thousands of people. That is how I justified climbing that dangerous tree.
After I climbed to a strategic position in the tree, I found a good anchor point or crouch above all the limbs that overhung the power lines. Using a block and rigging line I was able to rope all the overhanging limbs up and away from the power lines. This isn’t an easy process. It takes some spontaneous creativity and a solid plan of action. Furthermore, understanding the safety equipment and its limitations is crucial to maximize safety. So is understanding different cuts and applying them according to the situation while seventy to one hundred feet off the ground, often working right above 12-kV power lines or sometimes mere feet from them. Understanding rigging, lines of pull, fair leading, and the tools available was key to surviving this job. When I was in very extreme situations, I remember thinking to myself,
This is it? If I fall, or get electrocuted, that’s it? Seriously? No insurance, no family, kids. Fuck this.
I could see there was a payphone near the public restrooms in a nearby national park. While I spent the next three hours risking my life, I was totally focused on my new goal in life: joining the military. Army Ranger is what I want to do, I thought at the time. I finished the tree job and immediately felt the need to risk my life for something better. I knew I could lead; I knew I was willing to risk my life. Mostly I learned that day that I knew that I was not going to risk my life for some random hazardous tree removal company.
So I called my mom in Florida to see if I could stay with her and my stepfather while I prepared myself for boot camp and my future. I needed a neutral place to get my mind right and to get focused. I was always in trouble, barely avoiding jail or life-ruining felonies. The very next day after the oak tree “life discovery” incident, I bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Eustis, Florida, where my mother was living. If anyone has never taken a Greyhound bus anywhere, what a trip! is all I can say. That experience could be a book of humanity at its lowest points all by itself. It took three days to get from Santa Cruz, California to Eustis, Florida.
When I went to the local recruiter’s office, I went to the Army first. The only thing I was worried about was that I had been in trouble in Northern California for stealing a bunch of weed from a local grower right when I turned eighteen. Spectacularly dangerous and stupid to do, I must say. I was extremely lucky to get caught by the sheriffs and not the grower that I had stolen from. Bottom line was, I got put in a diversion program; if I broke the law in any way for the next two years, then I would be charged with the felonies for stealing weed like a dumb-ass. If I didn’t break the law in any way, then my record would be clean. As if it never happened. I stayed out of trouble for those two years and my record was clean.
When I went into the Army recruiter’s office, I told him about my past (I shouldn’t have because my record was clean), and he quickly dismissed me saying the Army was not interested. I then tried the Marines; same response. Meanwhile, the Navy recruiter just sat back and watched my soul get crushed by getting denied by everyone. He waited outside, smoking, to catch me leaving the recruiter station.
“What did they tell you, bro?” he asked.
I responded, “If the Army and Marines won’t take me, I know the Navy and Air Force won’t.” I was absolutely crushed.
“Come to my office, my friend,” the recruiter responded.
That was the first time the Navy saved my life. I had scored a 63 on my ASVAB. For those that do not know, that’s a decent score. It’s not the best, but above average. I was able to get waivers to enlist in the Navy. I was extremely excited and eager to get my new life underway. I went into the delayed entry program for thirty days. I wanted to make sure I was in shape, and I was clearing my mind for what I was about to get myself into. I finally felt like I was part of something bigger than me. I felt like I was coming home.
One of my recreational activities while I was living at my mom’s was water skiing. I water skied frequently with friends I knew from high school. I tried to stay as busy as possible with positive physical activities. When I went to the Military Entry Processing Station or Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in Tampa Florida, I completely bombed the hearing test. I had water in my ears from the past weekend’s water ski fiasco. After the hearing test they flushed my ears out and I could hear pins drop.
It was the end of the day, and they didn’t have time to retest my hearing (what I did not know is that I could have asked to come back the next day). They wanted to get as many people as possible in per day and just sent me to the detailer. The detailer is the person that finds a job in the Navy for you according to your ASVAB score. I knew I had scored rather well and was excited for the list of jobs they were going to offer. He typed on the keyboard, printed out a copy of the jobs the Navy was willing to offer and handed it to me. The list had the following:
-MS Specialist (A cook)
-PC Postal Clerk
-Undesignated Airman
That was it. I asked why such a short list? He informed me that since I failed my hearing test, those were the only jobs the Navy had for me. I was devastated. I asked about the undesignated airman position. He informed me that it was a chance to go to the Fleet after boot camp and Airman apprenticeship training and see all the jobs that the Navy has to offer. When you promote from E-3 to E-4, undesignated airmen can “strike” or challenge the rating exam of any job that they want within the U.S Navy aviation community. So I took the undesignated airmen route, and after boot camp and apprentice training, I was attached to an EA6B Squadron on Whidbey Island, Washington.
To be continued…
MS and Airman Apprentice, that's what they offered me at first. 🤣
Thank you for sharing!!! You are a great writer!!!!