An explosion of training

  • Published
  • By Airman Miranda A. Loera
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

The 4th Civil Engineer Squadron hosted a joint-service explosive ordnance disposal exercise Sept. 13 - 15, 2016, on the EOD range at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

 EOD Airmen assigned to the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron organized the three-day exercise to familiarize EOD technicians of the munitions involved with the F-15E Strike Eagle. To maximize the effectiveness of the exercise, the organizers invited their counterparts at both Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, to participate.

“The importance of the exercise was to gain familiarization and training on the F-15E, and all the ordnance that we would usually take care of at Seymour Johnson AFB,” said Senior Airman Christian Hulsey, 4th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD technician. “

The exercise consisted of two stages. The first stage took place over the course of the first two days and mainly consisted of a rundown of the F-15E. During this stage, the EOD teams trained and exercised on a multitude of scenarios, including responding to improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance threats, practicing basic demolition techniques and reacting to several simulated F-15E munitions emergencies.

“A chemical operation training is important just in case a situation similar to this should happen, outstanding units could come in and be able to perform the appropriate procedures,” said Hulsey.

According to U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kyle Kazmierczak, an EOD technician assigned to the 2nd EOD Company, the exercise scenarios were beneficial to their understanding of the F-15E and its munitions

 “We have never done any work on the F-15E before, so it was very helpful to be able to ask questions about it,” Kazmierczak said.

According to Hulsey, one of the major components of the exercise was the familiarization with the two major chemicals used in association with the F-15E.

 “The whole mission for the last day of the exercise was for the teams to render the chemicals safe and dispose of them properly,” Hulsey said.

On the final day of training, Airmen from Seymour Johnson and Charleston simulated a chemical spill situation, and performed the necessary procedures for the situation.

 Kazmierczak and Hulsey felt the training benefited the outstanding units, and felt the exercise assisted with chemical operations.

“This particular exercise helped immensely with chemical operations,” said Kazmierczak. “There are quite a few things the Air Force does that we don’t. I think if we could take that back to our shop it would help us with a few of our procedures, and maybe even be more effective with our job.”