EOD: Making magic happen

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Sarah Ruckriegle
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The Airmen of the 386th Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight wear patches adorned with a rainbow, unicorn and the motto “Make Magic Happen.” While the patch may be whimsical, the significance remains: what EOD does is nothing short of magical.

The 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Airmen here have a diverse and imperative mission set. They are responsible for providing a 24/7 response coverage, disposing expired or malfunctioned munitions and clearing explosive hazards identified on base or the perimeter such as suspected improvised explosive devices or unexploded ordnance.

One of their primary responsibilities is to support conventional munitions operations at the airfield. This role directly enables some of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing’s impact in Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.

“Supporting the airfield requires us to handle any ordnance in unsafe condition, such as a ‘hung-gun,’ which is when a weapon doesn’t fire properly and malfunctions,” said Staff Sgt John Mitchell, deployed from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. “Sometimes this happens with damaged fuses on rounds or bombs that didn’t fire as intended. We recover it, keep it in our safe holding area and then dispose of it.”

Since portions of the airfield may have to be temporarily shut down when malfunctions like a hung-gun happen, the EOD response is vital to continuing the air operations mission with as little interruption as possible.

The EOD Airmen also enable and support our joint partners in the region and on base. They have supported missions and personnel throughout the region.

“We have disposed of munitions for the Army also, including expired munitions that were used in Iraq or Afghanistan that the Army has determined are unusable,” said Tech. Sgt. Steven Stone, EOD technician, also deployed from Nellis AFB.

Not only does EOD support joint partners, they also work closely with other base partners. One of their duties includes responding to calls from the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at the gates and search pits.

“If the security forces dog indicates there may be some explosives, we are called in to respond,” said Senior Airmen Jeff Glover, deployed from Nellis AFB. “For situations like that, we typically use the robots.”

In order to get eyes on and evaluate the explosive threat while maintaining a safer distance, the EOD flight uses several different robots, said Mitchell. The robots are operated using remote controls that look similar to a video game controller. They are equipped with cameras that allow EOD technicians to get a closer look at a possible threat without exposing themselves to harm.

Besides being on-call 24/7, the EOD flight is also constantly training. They train with other EOD units in the area to ensure everyone is competent on the variety of aircraft platforms in the area. Additionally, they rotate monthly training to ensure they are prepared for any and all circumstances. Last month they trained with a variety of chemical ordnance and practiced responding to a chemical attack, said Glover.

Since the flight arrived in January, they have responded to 10 alerts, covering everything from alerts on the airfield to the gate checks and UXOs on the perimeter.

“At the end of the day, it’s our job to keep the airfield and the base safe and functioning,” said Stone.