I worked with the Air Force Civil Engineering Squadrons on a number of projects. My SEABEE unit built many Ma Deuce bunkers and SWA (South West Asia) huts for the AF.

Unlike the Navy, where EOD is a separate entity, AF EOD is part of the CE Squadron. I had an opportunity to do some joint training with them. We spent a day blowing stuff up.

We used safety fuse, which has a predictable rate of burn, crimp on blasting caps, C-4 explosive and an igniter.

During this particular day, we detonated 2-1000 lb bombs and a 2000 lb bomb. In the photo, the plume from the 2000 pounder is smaller as the photo was snapped as the mushroom was just developing.

We timed the bombs to blow after we had retreated about a mile away. Shrapnel still landed in our immediate area. The photo of one piece that came whipping thru the air like a lawn mower blade. It is so razor sharp that it is difficult to handle without cutting your fingers. Makes one think twice about being on the ground as an infantryman.

The third photo shows the EOD Chief and me with an Airborne Magnesium Flare which we also detonated.

The EOD team later had to detonate a large number of unexploded cluster bomb munitions. Extremely dangerous procedure as the individual bomblets are armed and the slightest jar can set them off.

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By coincidence, my SIL with the NYPD Harbor Unit was recently cross training with the Navy EOD, and was quite appreciative of the wide range of skills they shared, and the impressive explosives range they trained at.

Thanks for sharing that, Chief.

Had lots of EOD pals through the years. Good friends to have.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

C4 is pretty amazing stuff to play with,one of the militaries fun toys. We used a lot of it heating C rats.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Gee, you'd think they'd be more careful in marking those bombs. Evvn .22 ammo has a warning that it is dangerous to a mile!

Was around some Army EOD's and watched them work (VN). Those cats have my respect, but they breathe different air.

USAF EOD saved my life in Afghanistan.

We landed in a C-130 where the nose gear had been serviced incorrectly. Take-off went fine, but as soon as we touched down, the nose gear, which was cocked to the left and couldn't be budged, steered us off the side of the runway at around 100 knots. We plowed thru this empty field between the runway and parking apron until the pilot managed to stop the plane. There were these guys standing in the field in front of us watching the plane barrel at them until we finally stopped a couple of hundred feet from them.

Standard emergency procedure was to get the heck off the plane, so we open the door and start running. The loadmasters got out first, and as I hit the ground they started yelling "stop running we are in a minefield".

Turns out the guys in front of the plane were EOD clearing the minefield, and when the loadmasters exited the plane the EOD guys started yelling for them to stop.

So, we stood there in the minefield until the EOD guys got their special truck and drove out to get us. After I figured out I wasn't standing on a mine, the scariest part was as their truck got very close and thinking that if they drive over a mine I was in trouble.

We all got out with no injuries. After the EOD guys had cleared a safe path to the plane, our flight engineer went back out the get our gear. The plane had missed an anti-tank mine by a few feet, and when our engineer told the EOD guy our plane was carrying 10k pounds of bombs for the A-10s there, the EOD guy was visibly shaken. Those bombs aren't supposed to go off when they are "safed" but there have been incidents where fire or explosion did set them off. My engineer got a pic with the EOD guy in his full armor, shook his hand and said

Eng: "What's your name?"
EOD: "Maddog"
Engineer: "Of course it is."

Anyway, after we they got us out of the minefield and the docs drew blood to make sure we weren't on drugs, we sat with the EOD guys and watched Family Guy DVDs, which was the first time I saw that show.

To this day over 10 years later, when I see that show I have vivid memories of that day.

BTW, they fixed the plane a flew it out a few days later. It was one of the last C-130Es still flying at Pope AFB when I left. We were grounded for a few weeks until they determined the mishap wasn't our fault.

Anyway, I'm a fan of USAF EOD.

Closest I have ever been was watching the BBC series "Danger UXB" on TV.

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Certified Curmudgeon

Thanks for that explosive news story, Chief!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

After I had graduated high school I had a pretty good paying job for almost a year before I got laid off. I talked to a guy in the Air Force and went to see the recruiter.

Recruiter: “I see you scored well in Trade Tech, I can get you in as a Jet Engine Mechanic.”
Me: “Ah, ok but I would like to work telephones.”
Recruiter: “No, jet mech; that’s for you.”
Me: “No, I’d really like to work telephone; you know, climb poles and stuff.”
Recruiter: “You scored in the 99th percentile in Trade Tech, you’re going to be a jet engine mechanic.”
Me: “I would like to work telephone.”
Recruiter: “Well, we have a lot of openings in EOD.”
Me: “Jet engine mechanic sounds good.”

Eh, it was for the better. I’m nervous about heights anyway, and Jet Mech was only for 2½ years and let me cross-train to Flight Engineer.

About 40 years ago when I was single and living alone, I had the pleasure of having a neighbor who became like a second father to me. He told me he went ashore on D-Day over Omaha Beach in the second wave with the 116th Inf, 29th Div, and as he moved inland that afternoon, became pinned down in an apple orchard by German artillery. He said he was as prone flat as he could get, terrified as all hell was bursting all around him, and when he tried to snatch a quick look around to see if there was a better place to shelter, he saw a 2 foot long piece of shell fragment spinning end over end in the air coming in his direction from a considerable distance away. Although it all happened in a fraction of a second, he said it seemed like it was moving in slow motion. The fragment hit the ground about 60 yards in front of him and he mashed his face into the ground. He said he then screamed, thinking he was wounded, as a huge impact slammed the base of his spine. After he recovered his breath and checked himself over, he found he was really sore, but otherwise OK. The bounding fragment had gone well above his body and cut a 4 inch diameter limb off the apple tree, and the limb had fallen on his back. He said he felt foolish and very thankful to be alive and unhurt. He finished the war unscathed.
Buck told me this 32 years after the event, and said he could still see that hunk of metal in slow motion.