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Locked door? Small explosion may be the key

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss
  • Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM, Hawaii --  The 647th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight hosted a week-long joint-service training event here beginning Aug. 30.

The 40-hours of training focused on breaching and entering techniques and included Sailors, Marines, and Soldiers from EOD units throughout Oahu.

"Here we're learning how to use the least amount of force necessary to breech and enter the target," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Yates of the 647th CES EOD flight. "It's a very refined technique using finite amounts of explosives."

Although their joint tech school for EOD training at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the foundation for all four services' knowledge base, training this week with John Mayer, Director of Training for Tactical Energetic Entry Systems and a 20-year Army Special Forces veteran, taught every military member present something new about this critical, life-or-death career field.

"Joint service training ensures interoperability," Sergeant Yates said. "That drove the decision to make this a joint training event rather than Air Force specific. This is one of several joint training opportunities the 647th has capitalized on this year. Each time the results reinforce we are going in the right direction."

For the Marines present, it was good refresher training on an EOD skill set they often employ.

"But it's good because we get to see a different perspective on the way we do things," said Marine Master Sgt. T.J. Manor, the Marine Corps Base-Hawaii Headquarters Battalion Staff NCO in charge.

The course content was a refresher for him; but for some other EOD techs, it was totally new information.

"This isn't something we normally train on," said Army Sgt. David Woolridge, 706th Ordnance Company EOD. "I've never breached a door before."

"We don't do a lot of breaches, like the Marine Corps do, unless we're attached to a SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) team," agreed Petty Officer 1st Class Larry Polendey, a senior EOD technician for the Navy. "This is good for me."

They're now able to build on these skills and formulate other ideas on how to do things in the EOD career field, Sergeant Woolridge said. "This is another tool in our toolbox."

"Sharing knowledge and standard operating procedures gives EOD teams of all branches the flexibility they need to fully integrate regardless of the tasking," said Sergeant Yates. "The more we interact, the better we understand each other."