MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines are known for diffusing deadly situations with cutting-edge robot technology, but EOD technicians here traded the high-tech gadgetries for simpler machines during a training exercise at Barracks 318 yesterday.
For the simulation, several suspicious packages were reported to be in the empty building. Eight Marines, divided into two teams, had the responsibility of finding the potential improvised explosive devices and eliminating them without damaging personnel or property.
“For the training the goal is to clear the building, find the packages and remove them all by remote means,” said Staff Sgt. Michael D. Nutting, EOD technician and West Palm Beach, Fla., native.
To accomplish the task, the service members employed a hook and line kit, The kit uses ropes, pulleys, levers and fulcrums to safely open doors and remove hazardous items. One technician, donning an 85-pound bomb suit, entered the barracks first to assure his fellow Marines the quarterdeck area was clear of booby-traps.
All doors were required to be opened remotely, said Sgt. Brian J. Mcgonagle, EOD technician and Philadelphia native. A rope, pulled from outside, is run through a system of pulleys to force a stick or pole to prop open the door. The technician could then slide a mirror through the crack and inspect the room.
After the downstairs area was secured, the technician moved onto the second deck where an alleged bomb remained in another room. The same hook and line procedure of opening the door was repeated, but because of increased distance more pulleys and different techniques were implemented.
“(The hook and line kit) is something we didn’t do that much in school,” Mcgonagle said. “This is an unconventional method … so the training is very practical.”
After meticulously inspecting every inch of the room, an IED was detected. Then began the delicate process of attaching the bomb to a system of three ropes to carry it safely out the window and into a special container.
In order to preserve life, limb and property, the device must be removed from the barracks and deposited in a Kevlar blast bucket, said Mcgonagle. The bucket deflects an explosion straight up and down and limits outward fragmentation.
Although some elements of the exercise, such as the cumbersome bomb suit and stubborn doors, tested the Marines’ abilities, the day was a success according to Nutting.
“It went very well due to the fact that the Marines have learned how to use the tools and equipment provided,” Nutting said. “It’s a perishable skill in that things are constantly changing.”
The Marines executed the training with ability and precision, and the experience gained proved valuable for both the EOD technicians and station residents.
“I’d say a lot of the calls we get in a domestic environment like this are calls for suspect packages,” Mcgonagle said. “A lot of times people get excited and forget what they saw or where it was. (The training) gives us good practice to be alert and cautious when searching the building, making sure nothing will detonate.”