Photo By Randall Burlingame | Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians conduct 24-hour operations during Audacious...... read more read more
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Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians from 14 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units attended Audacious Warrior 2019 here and at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, June 16 - 28, 2019.
Twelve teams of EOD Airmen logged over 106 hours, completed 117 exercises, and covered wartime counter improvised explosive devices, unexploded ordnance, chemical ordnance, recover of an airbase denied by ordnance, and team leader down drills.
Training in field conditions and performing 24-hour operations prepared Airmen for the intensity of deployment by giving them experience and confidence to draw from.
“This is meant to create stress similar to a deployment, where you don’t get eight hours of sleep, and you don’t get as much rest,” said Master Sgt. Rob Krider, 104th Civil Engineering Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal operations non-commissioned officer in charge. “When these teams find themselves in that position in the real world they already understand it, and they already know how to focus and work through that.”
Teams of three EOD technicians responded to problems at all hours of the night on a rotating basis, with some problems taking 1-2 hours and others taking up to 5 hours or more.
“You have to give them something authentic to help them understand their strengths and their weaknesses, and develop themselves into more competent EOD techs,” said Krider. “By putting them in this environment, we give them a background to draw from.”
Staff Sgt. Ethan Johnson, 119th Civil Engineering Squadron EOD technician, attended Audacious Warrior for the third time and said he continues to find growth as a technician through the training.
“You get a wide variety of problems and you get the opportunity with that variety to kind of hone how you think through a problem, and how you work your way through that problem,” said Johnson. “Developing that confidence is that you can look at a problem, you can figure out what needs to be done, and you do it and it works.
One of the adjustments the EOD technicians had to make was growing used to working with a new team. Airmen were teamed with other technicians from outside of their normal shop to replicate what it would be like to work with new people during a deployment.
“Getting to work with different people is great, because when we deploy we’re not necessarily going to be deploying as a shop” said Johnson. “You’re going to get thrown in with a team and you’re going to have to work with them. So training like this, especially when mixing up your team leaders and team members, you get to see a lot of different approaches and a lot of different mentalities. You also learn from that, that there are multiple ways to solve a problem.”
For Krider, it all comes down to making sure Airmen are prepared to utilize their skills in the real world.
“It’s just another facet that helps us prepare them for a deployment the best that we can,” said Krider.
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2019 19:06 |
| Story ID: | 329617 |
| Location: | VOLK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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