Boise native deploys as EOD, defuses bombs, denies terrorist victory

Photo By Master Sgt. Sara Keller | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin Frey, Tech. Sgt. Steven Heffermen stand by as Staff Sgt. Scott Rice yells "fire in the hole" just before performing a controlled detonation at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, March 15, 2012. All three airmen are Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians deployed to the 966th Air Expeditionary Squadron at BAF. The EOD flight with the 966th AES is tasked to mitigate, render safe, and/or destroy any conventional or unconventional explosive threat as well as chemical, nuclear or biological hazards inside and outside the wire. Their operations can be performed 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Some of their responsibilities as EOD technicians include mitigating improvised explosive devices, post blast analysis and route clearing packages.  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

03.22.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Sara Keller 

United States Air Forces Central     

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Staff Sgt. Scott Rice, Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician, recently deployed to the 966th Air Expeditionary Squadron at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, as a part of Combined Joint Task Force Paladin.

Rice, a Boise, Idaho, native, joined a team of fellow EOD techs in Afghanistan from the 673rd Civil Engineer Squadron out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ala.

As an EOD tech, it’s his team’s responsibility to mitigate, render safe, and/or destroy any conventional or unconventional explosive threats as well as chemical, nuclear or biological hazards inside and outside the wire. Their operations can be performed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some of these tasks include mitigating improvised explosive devices, providing post blast analysis and performing route clearing packages.

By providing their EOD capabilities, Rice and his EOD team members make it possible for service members deployed to Bagram to complete their missions with confidence; knowing EOD is only one call away.

“We can’t do our job without EOD, there’s just no way,” said Tech. Sgt. Eric Fox, team leader with the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Quick Reaction Team or Reapers. “For example, we called them out for a rocket we found, and it’s the same type of ordnance I’ve seen used in IEDs in the past. By them coming out and destroying it, that’s one less IED [the enemy] can use against BAF or us. Not to mention the multiple IEDs they can save our lives from by diffusing it, before the enemy can diffuse them on us.”

There is not a day that goes by where EOD is not called on to respond.

Rice said this makes him feel like he is contributing to Operation Enduring Freedom.

“We save lives of coalition forces by clearing explosive devices and ordnance off the battlefield,” he said.

To be an EOD tech, Rice went through a rigorous nine-month course where he had to pass more than 50 tests that challenged not only his intelligence and attention to detail, but his physical endurance and mental capacity.

There are countless situations where Rice has to rely on this extensive training and his ability to think on his feet in order to keep himself, his team and others safe. But he said he has his favorite parts of the job.

“[My favorite part about my mission here] is identifying ordnance and IEDs, figuring out how they function and coming up with a plan to safely dispose of them,” Rice explained.

Rice is the leader of his three-man team and his responsibilities include coordinating all actions on the scene of an explosive emergency, safely clear the hazard and turn over a safe scene when done.

Rice has been serving in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and this is his fourth deployment.

• Date Taken: 03.22.2012
• Date Posted: 03.22.2012 12:52
• Story ID: 85611
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF