71st EOD hosts Team of the Year competition

Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Bryant | Spc. William Helms, explosive ordnance disposal specialist, 21st Ordnance Company (Weapons of Mass Destruction, EOD), 71st Ordnance Group (EOD), ruck marches toward the finish line of the final event at the 71st EOD Team of the Year competition, Fort Carson, Colorado, June, 16, 2017. The purpose of the competition is to determine the best EOD team from within the group’s footprint across the western United States through tests of warrior tasks, battle drills and scenario-based lanes focusing on technical competencies.  

FORT CARSON, CO, UNITED STATES

06.16.2017

Story by Spc. Anthony Bryant 

14th Public Affairs Detachment

Staff Sgt. Adam Ritter and Spc. William Helms, EOD specialists, 21st Ordnance Company (EOD), (Weapons of Mass Destruction), 71st EOD, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, were announced the victors of the 71st EOD ToY competition at the awards ceremony held at the Elkhorn Conference Center June 16, after all graded events concluded.
Ritter and Helms will go on to compete at the Department of the Army ToY competition held this September in Virginia.
Master Sgt. John W. Bestall, EOD specialist, 71st EOD, directed the competition from start to finish.
The start of the ToY competition kicked off June 12 at dawn with the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), said Bestall. M4 carbine and Beretta M9 range qualifications followed, later rolling into an administrative pause where teams signed for all EOD tools, equipment, sensitive items, weapons and accessories needed to execute scenario problems. Explosives were allowed for use in scenarios.
After signing for equipment, the teams moved to a standoff munitions disruption range to demonstrate proficiency with the M107 Barrett sniper rifle, an anti-material weapon system employed against ordnance and improvised explosive devices to mitigate threats from long range.
Ten EOD-based scenarios were spread out over three days beginning June 13, said Bestall. Day and night scenarios ranged from oversea contingency operations to homeland defense to dismounted fly-away missions in support of special operations missions.
For Sgt. Stephen Moreno and his team member, Cpl. Ryan Clark, EOD specialists, 797th Ordnance Company (EOD), 79th Ordnance Battalion (EOD), 71st EOD, Fort Hood, Texas, the most challenging problem was the chemical incident where they had to clear unexploded rockets from a contaminated area, Moreno said. Running the scenario was challenging enough not only working as a two-man team, but being suited in Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear over the hours-long duration of the lane added another degree of difficulty.
Competing at the ToY competition was something he and his team member both wanted to do. Moreno gained insight from discussing how to run certain scenarios from the other team leaders, he said.
The observer controllers and evaluators do the best they can to develop scenario problems that happen in real life, Moreno said. Getting the chance to train in relevant technical problems like those in the competition provides good experience.
“For any good training event, you always come out more knowledgeable than you came in,” he said.

• Date Taken: 06.16.2017
• Date Posted: 06.20.2017 16:22
• Story ID: 238564
• Location: FORT CARSON, CO, US
• Hometown: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US