Professionalism, cohesion provide backbone for Navy EOD unit

Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Moes | SOUTHWEST ASIA (October 11, 2006) --- Chief Petty Officer Jeff Cooney (left) and Chief Petty Officer John Dzierzewski drape an orange cover over the front of their boat during a recent training exercise.  

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10.11.2006

Story by Staff Sgt. Patrick Moes 

40th Public Affairs Detachment

by Staff Sgt. Patrick N. Moes
Desert Voice Editor
40th Public Affairs Detachment

SOUTHWEST ASIA (October 11, 2006) --- Many Americans take a traditional form of transportation to work such as a car, bus or train. But for a seven-man Navy unit in Southwest Asia their way of getting to work means possibly donning a 75-pound bomb suit, diving or using a parachute to get to the job site.

The unit is U.S. Navy Reserve's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 10 out of Fort Story, Va. The unit works as an USARCENT EOD team in Kuwait. Their mission consists of vetting all piers and boats before U.S. ships enter a harbor, rendering safe improvised explosive devices, disposing of unexploded ordnance and anti-terrorism/ force protection.

Although the ride to the job site may change and the mission itself varies, there is one common theme that remains constant – unit cohesion. "You're a team with the job but you're a family [24 hours a day, seven days a week]," said Chief Petty Officer Kelly Davis, one of two EOD technicians with EODMU 10.

Davis said the tight bond the unit has starts with the initial training the Sailors go through. "The common misery of school creates that bond," added Davis.

The school, or pipeline, consists of more than seven months at EOD school, more than 40 days at diving school and a short three weeks at airborne school.

Davis said all the courses have a certain "pain" to get through. He continued by saying the pain results in an approximate 3 percent graduation success rate for all three schools.

The pain is a small price to pay for the professionalism of these Sailors. This is the "greatest job in the world filled with a bunch of professional people," said Davis. "I get to stay eternally young doing my job."

etty Officer 1st Class Bryan Williams said "I like the work. I like the people." Williams spent approximately 11 years in the active duty ranks before joining the Navy Reserve. The EOD technician said the divers within the unit support the mission as EOD assistants. The divers have been trained to look for IEDs but do not have the ability to render them safe.

The unit's five divers have more than 3,000 minutes under the water since they arrived in theater this past April. Senior Chief Petty Officer Sean McLaren, officer in charge of the unit, said the water here in Southwest Asia is heaven. McLaren is used to diving in the United States' eastern waters where he said it's "black water" diving. The water is filled with so much dirt and mud that the water has become permanently black.

Although the Sailors don't have to contend with black water here, they do dive at night. Chief Petty Officer Gary Kuammen said night diving is like taking a simple task of tying one's shoes and turning the lights off. The task becomes difficult when you're under water with all your equipment and can't see.

Whether the dive is risky or the ordnance disposal is large, the EODMU 10 Sailors continue to depend on each other, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Hickling.

"We're having fun doing this," said Chief Petty Officer Jeff Cooney. "We're much smarter coming out of this than we were going in."

"We all have strengths and weaknesses," McLaren said. "We're like brothers."

• Date Taken: 10.11.2006
• Date Posted: 10.11.2006 12:23
• Story ID: 7986
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)