CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan – Leading one of the most dangerous units in northern Afghanistan normally includes a heavy burden of responsibility for its company commander. Navy Lt. Eric R. Bond, a 2007 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, understands this better than most as the officer in charge of the Combined Joint Task Force Explosive Ordinance unit. The native of Ashburn, Va., is responsible for the safety and readiness of his special forces team that is trained and equipped to take on life or death missions in a multitude of tactical environments that include onboard ships, underwater, urban areas, minefields, battlefields and the combat zone known as Afghanistan.
But as if this was not enough, Bond decided to take on the additional responsibility of training Afghan security forces so they can properly dispose of explosives after the American military leaves Afghanistan.
“Our direct task is to defeat the IED threat. But it became clear to me that if we intended to leave responsibly, we needed to do partnerships. One of my major initiatives is to partner any time we could with the Afghans,” said Bond.
In order to facilitate collaborative efforts with the Afghan National Army, Bond needed the support of a top-level Afghan leader. This led him to the officer tasked to lead the EOD Afghan unit, Capt. Islamudin Behaddu.
“The first thing I did is foster a relationship with Capt. Behaddu. As the appointed team leader, he had not gone through the training himself. But he completed the training himself and graduated. He earned the respect of his EOD team by completing the same training they did. I’m also impressed that he talks about the country of Afghanistan, and not just about a regional or ethnic affiliation,” explained Bond.
Bond also worked to form partnerships with EOD teams from other International Security Assistance Forces, such as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Netherlands and Latvia. However, these ISAF countries focus more on removing the IED threats that are littered across Afghanistan due to many years of war.
“They don’t partner with the Afghans. But it just made sense to me to establish partnerships. Otherwise, we could just do everything for them, and then one day we’ll just take off,” said Bond.
The CJTF Paladin EOD unit is based out of Camp Shaheen, southwest of the city of Mazar-e Sharif. There are six teams with three EOD technicians. It serves as the only IED/EOD school for Afghan National Security Forces in the entire country.
“We have trained and validated four Afghan National Army EOD teams that can now go out on their own. Before they were rag-tag groups, but now they have come back with dozens of success stories,” said a beaming Bond.
Bond’s six-month tour in Afghanistan comes to an end in mid-January, and the former midshipman with a Bachelor’s degree in Oceanography is set to return to his EOD Mobile Unit 1 at San Diego’s Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. He is proud that his unit of 20 sailors, which includes two support personnel along with the EOD technicians, has maintained their safety and that of the northern region of Afghanistan. But he is equally proud that he can leave the war-torn country knowing that trained Afghan EOD teams will use the knowledge and skills he taught them to protect their population long after he is gone.
“Their EOD teams have exceeded all our expectations. It’s unbelievable what they can do now on their own. Once we are gone, they can handle it by themselves,” said Bond.
| Date Taken: | 01.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2012 04:28 |
| Story ID: | 82912 |
| Location: | MAZAR-E-SHARIF, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,265 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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