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EOD technicians focus on safety

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan --  The 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight paused for a day to focus on safety, incident storyboards and base support services Nov. 29.

In a letter to the field, Lt. Gen. Loren Reno addressed the importance of pausing to reflect on safety during the fourth annual EOD Safety Day.

"Every day our deployed EOD Airmen are conducting mounted and dismounted operations in arduous terrain and in non-permissive environments to defeat the enemy's weapon of choice, the IED," wrote the deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support, headquarters. "The toll on the EOD career field has been significant. Since 2005, we have lost 17 EOD Airmen in combat operations. In addition 14 have been seriously injured, and more than 90 EOD Airmen have received one or more Purple Hearts."

As part of the EOD Safety Day here, a chaplain and mental health provider talked to the flight about post-traumatic stress disorder and the importance of staying mentally fit. The flight also had transient EOD technicians talk about their deployments.

"We were able to take advantage of the fact that we had Capt. Brennan Vincello and Chief Master Sgt. Mitchell Shimmel transitioning through here on their way home from Afghanistan during our EOD Safety Day," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Chauncey, the 376th CES EOD flight chief deployed here from Joint Base Andrews, Md. "They were able to share with us some of their experiences from their deployment to Camp Leatherneck and talk about the threats with which their team dealt."

In addition, the flight focused on demolition safety by conducting an explosives training controlled detonation at their range with the safety office on site. While the EOD flight was at the range, Vincello, reenlisted Staff Sgt. Matt Leatherman. They are both deployed from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

"It worked out really well that our EOD Safety Day lined up with the captain and chief's time here," said Leatherman, 376th CES EOD technician. "Not only did we get to learn about current threats that our fellow EOD troops are facing down range, but I was also able to have my supervisor reenlist me downrange."