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FORT SILL, Okla. – U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians trained together with troops from Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania and the Netherlands in Senegal during Exercise African Lion 2025.
Army EOD technicians from the Fort Sill, Oklahoma-based 761st Ordnance Company (EOD) deployed to Senegal for the all-domain, multi-component and multinational exercise that brought together 10,000 troops from more than 40 nations.
Hosted by U.S. Africa Command and led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, Exercise African Lion was conducted in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. The exercise was designed to strengthen interoperability, increase readiness and build strategic partnerships to increase security and stability on the continent.
1st Lt. Kaleb Fanning from Tullahoma, Tennessee; Staff Sgt. Jon Thurman from Fountain, Colorado; Staff Sgt. Matthew Urquiza from Pico Rivera, California; Staff Sgt. Michael Herczeg from Dallas; Staff Sgt. Kristopher Wooters from Irving, Texas; Staff Sgt. Christian Klinefelter from Toledo, Ohio; Sgt. Caleb Smith from Radcliff, Kentucky; Sgt. Ryan Fear from Nampa, Idaho; and Sgt. Jason McCabe from Colchester, Vermont, deployed with the 761st EOD Company to Senegal for the annual exercise.
The 761st EOD Company is part of the 79th EOD Battalion, 71st EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier multifunctional and deployable CBRNE formation.
From 19 bases stationed in 16 states, Soldiers and Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command take on the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations.
Other 20th CBRNE Command EOD units supported the exercise in different nations. EOD techs from the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 49th Ordnance Company (EOD), 184th EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group, 20th CBRNE Command, served in Morocco.
At the same time, EOD techs from the Fort Irwin, California-based 759th Ordnance Company (EOD), 3rd EOD Battalion, 71st EOD Group, 20th CBRNE Command, deployed to Tunisia.
As the U.S. Army’s explosive experts, EOD technicians take on everything from hand grenades to nuclear weapons.
After defeating hundreds of thousands of Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq and Afghanistan together with joint service EOD techs, Army EOD technicians from the 20th CBRNE Command are training to support ground maneuver forces during large-scale combat operations.
Army EOD techs from the 761st EOD Company conduct target insertion, range clearance and fire break clearance missions for U.S. Army field artillery and air defense artillery units.
EOD techs from the 761st EOD Company enable military operations around the world and respond when military munitions are found on and off base in Oklahoma, Arkansas and across 60 counties in Texas.
Capt. John M. Jennes, the commander of the 761st EOD Company, said the training during Exercise African Lion was realistic and challenging.
Jennes said his EOD teams trained with the Senegalese Army, specifically the ‘Genie’ counter IED combat engineers and infantry as well as the Cote d’Ivoire infantry, Mauritania infantry and Dutch engineers.
Overcoming 110-degree temperatures and occasional sandstorms during the exercise, the EOD technicians worked through interpreters who spoke French and Wolof (the local language) and the training occurred in both the classroom and the field. The training focused on responding to unexploded ordnance and Improvised Explosive Devices.
“The 761st participated in a culminating multinational field training exercise where the Dutch engineers found an enemy cache, used learned ordnance identification skills to perform a reconnaissance of the explosive hazards and called the U.S. EOD Platoon,” said Jennes. “The 761st responded to the incident, the Dutch established a security perimeter, and we disposed of the enemy cache.”
A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Jennes earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Bellarmine University.
Before becoming an Army EOD officer, Jennes served in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted crew chief on a P-3C Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft where he deployed to Japan, Qatar and Djibouti. While in the Navy, Jennes was involved in a search mission that found a missing preteen who had been lost in the Pacific for days.
In the Army, before assuming command of the 761st EOD Company, Jennes served as part of the Immediate Response Force on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where his unit stayed ready to be wheels up in less than 72 hours to anywhere around the world.
Jennes said Exercise African Lion improved the readiness of everyone involved.
“We gained experience through training with other nations,” said Jennes. “This was the first opportunity that several of our EOD Soldiers had to travel overseas.”
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2025 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 542747 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Hometown: | LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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