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Saving lives overseas, at home

By Senior Airman Gino Reyes, 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published July 27, 2011

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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, if someone asked what EOD was it would take them a while to figure it out. Since 9/11, the three letters are known around the world to represent a certain group of servicemembers and their accomplishments, sacrifices and efforts supporting the war front. Here, some of those people are Airmen with the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight.

"When I enlisted, my recruiter asked me if I liked to blow stuff up, other than that the man had no other information on the career field," said Staff Sgt. Justin Walter, 4th CES EOD craftsman.

A typical day for the EOD flight here consists of, constantly staying up on their annual training requirements along with keeping up with new enemy tactics they might encounter. Along with training, these Airmen are on call for real world situations on and off base working with the local authorities to dispose of live ordnance found out in the community.

"We have had several calls to support the local authorities to dispose of explosive ordnance," said Capt. Taylor Valentine, 4th CES EOD flight commander. "Some of the calls consisted of disposing a World War II hand grenade found in Pitt County and a 120mm projectile mortar found in a crop field."

Air Force EOD consists of nine mission areas: aerospace vehicle launch and recovery, force protection, weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapon incident/accident, unexploded explosive ordnance, operational range clearance, mortuary services, federal agency and civil authority support, and base populace training. EOD Airmen must become experts in all these areas.

"This is my first position as a flight commander, " Valentine said. "The role is extremely humbling and it is a great experience to work with the caliber of Airmen, not only in my shop, but across the Air Force."

When it comes to deployments, EOD Airmen deploy every six months. With a constant rotation of deployments and training to deploy while at home, these Airmen are always on the move and always strive to stay ahead of the game to save lives. With all the time spent together, these Airmen are a tight knit group with strong camaraderie.

"I love the camaraderie in this job and the adrenaline high I get from doing my job and seeing the results of that accomplishment immediately," Walter said, "It's majestic!!"

EOD Airmen are an important asset to the mission. Though 20 years ago people might not have known what EOD Airmen do, they do now.

"Today's war is not a war with IEDs ... It's an IED war," Valentine said
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