Kirtland EOD trains for readiness

Published May 9, 2013
By John Cochran
377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. -- Some people get paid to blow things up.

That's the job of 18 Airmen assigned to the 377th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight at Kirtland Air Force Base.

Staff Sgt. Benjamin McCullough, an EOD craftsman here, said Airmen in his career field continually train to hone their skills in detecting and disarming dangerous devices.

After basic training and a three-week preliminary course, would-be EOD techs must pass a series of physical tests to enter the joint EOD school at Eglin AFB, Fla. The tests include completing a 1.5-mile run in 11 minutes, three dead-hang pullups, 55 full situps in one minute, and 55 pushups in one minute.

The tech school continues to set high standards for student performance.

"For every examination, the minimum passing score is 85, with most being the practical, hands-on type. Nine out of 10 times, if you do anything wrong or violate safety, it's a 16-point hit, so you automatically fail that event. If you fail any test, you have to go back to the beginning of a division and go through the whole course again," McCullough said.

EOD school usually takes candidates from eight months to a year to complete, he said.

"Once you get out of EOD school and get to your flight, that's when your training really begins. Every six months, we go through all the things we're going to train on, so we do everything at least twice a year. Even though you learned everything at EOD school and passed all the tests, the minute you get here, that's effectively wiped clean. You immediately have to be recertified on all those tasks," the 11-year Air Force veteran said.

McCullough said trainees must pass each qualifying event on two separate occasions, with a different certifier each time.

"Once you get to your flight, you have 12 months to get trained and certified on 200 items to become a 5-level. Then you can do everything unsupervised. Most folks stay a 5-level until they become a staff sergeant-select. Then they start the transition to becoming a team leader and 7-level," he said.

EOD technicians must master an extensive portfolio of required expertise.

"We're responsible for chemical and biological devices, nuclear and conventional ordnance, improvised explosive devices, and the deployed mission," McCullough said.

A three-member EOD team carried out an exercise April 30 at Kirtland to certify an EOD tech in team-leader upgrade training. One of the team's tasks was to operate a radio-controlled robot to disarm a simulated IED.

Asked what traits make a good EOD tech, McCullough said these men and women are Type-A personalities who are self-starters.

"They are the first to volunteer for something new. They want to learn something they've never done before, just to beat it. That's a great mentality to have, because for every IED or ordnance item you run into, you'll never find two that are identical. Every time, it's a new challenge," he said.

McCullough said the EOD ops tempo has been high since Sept. 11, 2001, with most techs going on four deployments of six months each in their first four years of service.

Because of the demanding nature of the work, the Air Force Personnel Center has identified EOD as a chronically critically manned career field. As incentives, the Air Force provides a re-enlistment bonus and special duty assignment pay.