Photo By Emma Loscalzo | Organizers, instructors, sponsors, and participants in the 2023 AF EOD Team of the...... read more read more
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Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians undertake some of the Air Force’s most dangerous missions – mitigating the hazards of explosive materials and other weapons. Air Force EOD teams from around the country brought their nerves of steel to Little Rock, Arkansas, to compete to be the 2023 Air Force EOD Team of the Year August 7-11, 2023.
Each team was challenged with proving their skills in one of ten regional competitions to qualify for the finals in Little Rock. But there can only be one 2023 Air Force EOD Team of the Year.
Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, took home the winning title this year. The team was comprised of Tech. Sgt. David Felkins, Staff Sgt. Gabriel LeBlanc, and Senior Airman Caleb Heider from the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron.
366th Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Brandy Smart shared her excitement for her team’s win, stating, “They did a fantastic job demonstrating the full spectrum they were tested on at this competition. They had to put a lot of resilience and effort into the full week, and they maintained their composure throughout the whole event to come out on top.”
Nine teams ultimately made it to the 2023 finals, bringing their all to the five-day competition. The teams represented Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; Hurlburt Field, Florida; Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina; Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana; and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. The nine regional winners competed on current and future threats, full-scale operations, and task evaluations. The teams tested their skills in a range of exercises including a post-blast analysis, improvised explosive device, hoax, unexploded ordnance, hook and line, night operations, airfield clearance, bomb removal, and unknown missile exploitation.
The Team of the Year competition allows squadrons to showcase their skills, informs training, and evaluates readiness for the entire career field. Chief Master Sgt. Vandiver Hood, AF EOD career field manager, explained how critical the EOD Team of the Year competition is for the future of the force. “This competition allows the career field to adjust our training programs where we see trends, needs, deficiencies, and special interest items as we evaluate every single flights training program,” he said.
The EOD Team of the Year competition not only has overarching effects on the readiness of the career field, but it has a positive impact on the airmen participants.
“The greatest thing about these types training problems is that you always learn something new,” said Tech. Sgt. Nathan Hollibaugh, an EOD technician, from Holloman Air Force Base “The biggest thing I’ve learned in this competition is to be careful where I put my team. There's always something you can miss.”
Industry partners joined the competition for the first time this year to test the integration of new technologies in the field.
“Our EOD techs get to work with industry partners and use new technology,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Blomberg, AF EOD program director. “They are able to collaborate with industry to find new ways of operating faster than at a staff and operational level, and we are going to take the lessons learned here and apply them into our planning.”
Tech. Sgt. Eric Posey, an EOD technician from Joint Base Charleston, illustrated that the ability to test new technology was one of the best parts of the competition. “Having an opportunity to use the un-maned aerial system (UAS) is something that our team usually doesn’t see in our areas and being able to employ it in different environments has been fun and interesting,” he said.
The idea for the competition came from the need to evaluate the effectiveness of EOD flight training programs. Ultimately, this idea evolved into an annual event that brought together flights to test overall training programs. In 2017, it was taken to the MAJCOM level with Air Force Global Strike hosting the first EOD Team of the Year event. In 2022, the competition grew to encompass three regions and this year the competition has seen its biggest evolution. Today, it is a full-scale, ten-region, event with every single Air Force active duty, guard, and reserve flight having the opportunity to field a team in a regional event.
The growth of the competition is only getting started with even bigger sights set for the future to challenge the readiness of the career field.
“In the future, we will continue improving our focus and training opportunities,” explained Hood. “I would like to see a joint service opportunity where teams compete against each other, and an overall winner is crowned as the Department of Defense EOD team of the year.”
The AF EOD Team of the Year Competition offers the unique opportunity to advance EOD from the innovative solutions of technicians in the field. As the competition evolves, AF EOD technicians will continue to rise to the challenge with their bravery, precision, and skill.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2023 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 452658 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 528 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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