722nd EOD plays critical role in GRF

Photo By Staff Sgt. Alexander Skripnichuk | Explosive ordnance disposal specialists with the 722nd Ordnance Company Explosive Ordinance Disposal, 192nd Ordnance Battalion EOD, Fort Bragg, detonate explosives to dispose of simulated chemical weapons confiscated during an earlier training mission Feb. 10, 2016, at Fort Hood, Texas.  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

02.29.2016

Story by Maj. Ryan Donald 

20th CBRNE Command

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – A platoon from the 722nd Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)) participated in the Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise at Fort Hood, Texas Feb 8–10.

The 3rd Platoon demonstrated the 722nd Ordnance Company (EOD), 52nd Ordnance Group’s capability to rapidly deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to support the Global Response Force (GRF), and execute Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) operations in an initial entry, expeditionary operating environment.

The platoon’s role during the exercise was to identify, render safe dispose of, and exploit the explosive hazards encountered during the operation. These hazards included simulated chemical munitions on the tactical objectives.

To ensure the company is ready to support GRF, the 722nd EOD aligns three platoons with three maneuver battalions within the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 82nd Airborne Division. An EOD platoon consists of three EOD teams and a platoon headquarters. The platoons and company headquarters have training cycles synchronized with the brigade to reinforce their interoperability with the BCT's maneuver forces and staff executing CBRNE and weapons of mass destruction operations.

To also ensure success, the company focuses its training on maneuverability, operational capability and specific enabler support for the BCT’s various mission profiles.

“My company emphasizes providing a capacity and capability to the BCT to conduct clearance of field landing strips - critical to initial entry operations; supporting route clearance operations - essential to ensuring the BCT's maneuverability on the battlefield,” said Capt. Benjamin Boettcher, commander, 722nd EOD. “We also provide an initial entry, expeditionary environment counter WMD capability for the BCT's mission - executing CWMD activities and tasks at the tactical level.”

According to 1st Sgt. Michael Campbell, first sergeant of 772nd, the main challenge centered on ensuring readiness associated with our deployment for the training event. However, these challenges turned into successes as they were able to further refine systems to ensure their load plans were completed to standard, their vehicles and equipment were capable of strategic airlift, and their personnel's force health protection remains to standard for this mission.

The 722nd Ordnance Company (EOD) also supports the BCT in other exercises such as the GRF’s certification exercise, the Joint Operational Access Exercise at Fort Bragg, and their JRTC validation event.

“While supporting a brigade in an expeditionary environment, my job is to provide the tactical level commander(s) with a limited presumptive characterization of CBRNE threats to further shape combat operations,” said Boettcher.

The 722nd Ordnance Company (EOD) is a conventional EOD company tasked with the rapid, deployment mission to provide EOD, limited CBRN, and counter - improvise explosive device operational capability to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division's larger GRF mission.

• Date Taken: 02.29.2016
• Date Posted: 02.29.2016 12:07
• Story ID: 190435
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US