18th CES EOD flight responds during LORE

by Airman 1st Class Hailey Davis
18th Wing Public Affairs

9/11/2013 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 18th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight responded to a suspicious bag scenario during a local operational readiness exercise here.

Local operational readiness exercises test Airmen and their capability to deploy at a moment's notice in support of contingency operations.

In this scenario, Air Force Office of Special Investigations officials received a bomb threat from a disgruntled person which drove them to evacuate the building and discover a suspicious bag, followed by calling EOD.

"One of our missions is force protection on base here, and this is a counter-Improvised Explosive Device mission," said Tech. Sgt. Jason Weimer, EOD flight NCO in charge of EOD training. "(The technicians) use robots, x-ray equipment, bomb suits and specialized EOD tools to disable the IED during these missions and to protect personnel and property from these explosive hazards."

Training, such as responding to suspicious bags and packages, not only helps EOD protect the base populous but it also aids EOD technicians in remaining proficient on core tasks and reinforces the team concept.

"It's important because it allows us to work together as a team and remain efficient at our skills," Weimer said. "Each member of the team has a unique skill set and unique responsibilities that they contribute to the overall goal."

Senior Airman Erica Demattei Hopper, 18th CES EOD technician, added that exercises aid EOD technicians in many ways such as teaching them how IEDs are built and enforcing teamwork and safety.

"Knowing the basic components of an IED, how circuits work and how they are built is important," Demattei Hopper said. "It's also good to keep practicing because this is something that could happen (at any time), so every exercise we can do to get more experience is better and keeps us prepared."

"The team dynamic (when we're deployed) is the same," Weimer added. "We have Airmen who are tasked with running a robot, and in Afghanistan or any deployed environment, you always want to use a robot or some means to stay remote and keep your team chief away from the hazard so those directly correlate to a war-time mission."

Whether exercise or real-world, LOREs create a safe environment to test and teach Airmen the proper procedures to defend against potential real-world scenarios.