MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines began conducting a two-week block of instruction in advanced category A type devices at the EOD building here April 2.
The EOD Marines here were faced with a difficult situation: a simulated hostage was put into an explosive device by a telephone repair man.
The telephone repair man asked for assistance from the potential victim.
Once the victim assisted by pushing a button, the repair man explained that victim was now a hostage and if the button was released the package will expload.
“It was a hostage device with a victim-operated switch where the hostage was being controlled with an explosive device,” said Mike Mathieu, Anti-Terrorism Solutions senior project analyst and instructor. “Their job (EOD Marines) was to come in and remove the hostage from the device.”
The Marines began training with a professional military education brief on stress control techniques and how to approach the situation and handle it the best possible way.
“EOD technicians could find themselves needing to conduct manual procedures to render safe an IED that could not be delt with by remote means,” said Mathieu.
The exercise emphasized controlling the stress of the hostages, exercising render safe procedures and questioning techniques. Learning stress control and questioning techniques is critical for EOD Marines to ensure hostage safety and to minimize property damage.
“You want to be able to work as a team,” said Gunnery Sgt. Hugh McClenney, staff noncommissioned officer in charge with the station EOD team. “You want to ensure this person is calm and that they are not freaking out.”
The Marines participating in the exercise were given a scenario and played the part of a regular Joe going about daily business. “It went very well,” said Mathieu. “I was very impressed with the Marines in this class.”
The Marines were encouraged to role-play and be as realistic as possible to challenge the EOD Marines to perform their jobs in as realistic a scenario as possible.
“I think it went really well. For one, it actually gave me a lot more confidence in my own abilities to diagnose stuff,” said McClenney. “It broadens that knowledge and makes us more capable of defeating the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
EOD Marines conduct these training courses regularly, giving them the opportunity to make and learn from their mistakes here. In a non-training scenario, there are no second chances.