U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers from the 55th Ordnance Company (EOD) participated in a law enforcement exercise with other Fort Belvoir, organizations, including the Fort Belvoir Law Enforcement Agency Detachment, Fire and Emergency Services and Army Criminal Investigation Division. Military Working Dog teams from the Fort Myer, Virginia-based 947th Military Working Dog Detachment, 289th Military Police Company, also supported the exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Angel D. Martinez-Navedo).
Army EOD technicians hone skills during Fort Belvoir law enforcement exercise
FORT BELVOIR, Va. – U.S. Army Explosives Ordnance Disposal technicians honed their lifesaving and mission-enabling skills during a combined law enforcement exercise on Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
EOD Soldiers from the 55th Ordnance Company (EOD) participated in the exercise with other Fort Belvoir organizations, including the Fort Belvoir Law Enforcement Agency Detachment, Fire and Emergency Services and Army Criminal Investigation Division.
Military Working Dog teams from the Fort Myer, Virginia-based 947th Military Working Dog Detachment, 289th Military Police Company, also supported the exercise. The MWD teams are part of The Old Guard in the Military District of Washington.
The U.S. military has approximately 1,600 Military Working Dogs that serve in every branch of the United States Armed Services. Around the world and around the clock, Military Working Dogs provide paws on the ground and support forces at sea and in the air. Patrol explosive dogs support EOD teams as they confront and defeat explosives around the world.
Capt. David Byers, commander, 212th Military Police Detachment, said his unit regularly trains with Military Working Dog teams.
“We try to work with the MWD teams as often as we can, which in the last year has been about quarterly doing training exercises like this one or in April of last year, we certified them as Military Police officers,” said Byers.
“It’s vital that we work together in training because these are the same handlers we would call upon to assist in a real-life incident. Having a personal relationship with them enables us to work closely and quickly,” said Byers, a Front Royal, Virginia, native who earned his bachelor’s degree in legal studies and Spanish from Franciscan University and his master’s degree in history from Liberty University.
The Fort Belvoir, Virginia-based 55th EOD Company “VIPpers” are part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier multifunctional and deployable CBRNE formation.
Soldiers and Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations.
The 55th EOD Company covers explosive response missions in most of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and portions of Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.
Capt. Caroline C. Hamann, commanding officer of the 55th EOD Company, said the exercise enabled the EOD techs to forge stronger relations with the other organizations on the base.
“The training involved scenarios with the intent to organically respond to an explosive hazard emergency response on a military installation … and stressed scene handoff and communication between emergency response entities.”
A native of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and graduate of Fordham University who majored in psychology and sociology, Hamann said the training exercise improved the ability of the EOD techs to support an interagency response on the installation.
“Training with joint and interagency partners is critical for EOD techs as it stresses a real-world scenario handoff and forces them to practice communication with non-EOD technicians on elements of explosive hazard safety,” said Hamann.
“The EOD technicians were able to refine their communication skills and identify key players in the emergency response,” said Hamann. “The final scenario was a mass casualty and post blast caused by explosives. We recreated this at the Fire Department’s training location to burn down their trainer car. This was fantastic training for the EOD technicians as they were able to recreate the training IED through found material after the fire was extinguished.”
Capt. Jack Morrisey, the Fort Belvoir Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion operations officer and the incoming commander for the 55th EOD Company, planned the training. An Omaha, Nebraska, native who served in Baghdad, Iraq, Morrisey will assume command of the 55th EOD Company from Hamann this Spring.
Following her command tour at the 55th EOD Company, Hamann will earn her MBA before serving as an ethics professor for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Hamann said EOD techs at the 55th EOD Company accomplish important missions every day.
“The 55th serves as the primary EOD unit to support Very Important Persons Protection Support Activity missions, alongside the United States Secret Service, ensuring the safety of the president, vice president, their families and visiting foreign dignitaries,” said Hamann. “This mission has a major time requirement that the EOD technicians must endure alongside their tactical training, technical EOD proficiency and physical fitness. Realistic training like this is vital to keeping our teams ready to respond.”
by Walter Ham, 20th CBRNE Command