Photo By Sgt. Cody Barber | U.S. Army Cpl. Kevin Levine, an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to the...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - The day wasn’t just another training day on Camp Bondsteel for U.S. Army Cpl. Kevin Levine, but a day that was meant to test his abilities and define his future as an explosive ordnance disposal technician.
Levine is a technician assigned to the 759th EOD Company, based at Fort Irwin, Calif., and underwent part of an EOD certification process, March 18, designed to prove that he is ready to lead teams of EOD Soldiers.
The San Diego native took what he has learned through training and other team leaders over the years and applied them to the challenge he was facing today, which was reacting to a possible vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
“I took it one step at a time,” said Levine. “I dissected for what it was and it’s not super difficult as long as you’re thinking about how to take care of it as safe as you can.”
The certification consists of multiple events an EOD Soldier has to accomplish while senior leaders evaluate how a situation is handled; all bringing different problems an EOD Soldier may face as a team leader.
“There’s not really just a one through 20-step [process],” said Levine. “There are just multiple problems you have to run to get your certifications, but it does bring me that much closer though, because that’s one less thing I have to do.”
“Once you are certified as a team leader, you’ll be expected to handle any situation you may come across,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Wohlrabe, the Multinational Battle Group-East EOD detachment noncommissioned officer in charge. “Whether it is chemical, bio-hazard, radiological, VBIED’s, or a suicide vest, there are a lot of different scenarios.”
Wohlrabe added it is such a rigorous process becoming a team leader because leaders will have subordinate Soldiers and they will look to the team leader to make the right calls and ensure their safety.
“We want to see that he has the right thought process and skills to be able to handle a situation,” said Wohlrabe, a Grand Rapids, Minn., native. “[Team leaders] are the guys on scene that are overall responsible on the scene until the explosive hazard is taken care of and we have to make sure he is able to do that on his own.”
Validating a soldier as an EOD team leader is an important task for the EOD field, Wohlrabe continued, because it allows senior leaders to share their knowledge while training future soldiers to take their spots.
Levine successfully cleared the VBIED obstacle, immediately impressing some of his supervisors.
“He did a great job. On a scale of one to 10, he’s right up there at a nine,” said Staff Sgt. Richard Caracci, a team leader with the 759th. “He’s done everything remotely that he can and he has followed all the step-by-step procedures that he has been taught in school and in training.”
When the training concluded and the hazard was taken care of, Levine found himself one step closer to earning his certification and, ultimately, to achieving his final goal of becoming an EOD team leader.
| Date Taken: | 03.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2014 09:39 |
| Story ID: | 122773 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Hometown: | GRAND RAPIDS, MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 543 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, EOD soldier tests for team leader certification, by SGT Cody Barber, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
