Photo By Staff Sgt. Apolonia Gaspar | Veterans gathered for their 20 year reunion at 761st Ordnance Company, 79th Ordnance...... read more read more
FORT SILL, Oklahoma – Veterans gathered for their 20 year reunion at 761st Ordnance Company, 79th Ordnance Battalion, 71st Ordnance Group on April 14th, 2023.
“These are the guys that went to Iraq back in 2003,” said 1st Lt. Radford Swent, an EOD officer within 761st EOD. “They came here for their 20 year reunion because this is the same company that they deployed under, which was organized by the Warrior Reunion Foundation (WRF).”
In that regard, The Warrior Reunion Foundation (WRF) can be helpful. In 2017, they were founded to bring together combat veterans who have served together as a unit, focusing on those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror.
During the reunion, veterans visited their old stomping grounds and reminisced about their days serving as an EOD tech. As they recounted these memories, 761st EOD highlighted the changes to the unit through demonstrating their various capabilities.
“We decided to show them our new stuff, like the stuff they didn't have as EOD techs 20 years ago,” said Swent. “We showed them our new chemical agent detector, our new improvised explosive device (IED) disruption tool that is more dismountable than the one they had, and we showed them our SmartRayVision which is our new x-ray system.”
Bridging the past with the future played an important role at the reunion. Some veterans took the time to educate 761st EOD techs about their unit’s past in a not so formal setting with a night out.
“I think it's cool for us as a unit to see that what we're doing is still impacting people's personal lives 20 years from now, we're hoping that the relationships that we're building right now are to stay with us for a lot longer down the road.
The bond between our EOD techs is unbreakable. Veterans often find themselves alone as they adjust to life after service because of the separation from their most important resource: each other. It is this problem that is solved by the Warrior Reunion Foundation. Through their reunions, they help service members build peer support networks for life after service.
For more information on the WRF visit their website at warriorreunionfoundation.org
| Date Taken: | 04.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2023 01:51 |
| Story ID: | 443556 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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