Any time someone puts their life on the line to defuse a bomb or an explosive device it can be considered a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks, which is one definition of “audacious.”
“That’s why I thought Exercise Audacious Warrior was the perfect name for our exercise (at Fort McCoy),” said Chief Master Sgt. Edward Smith with the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Flight at Madison.
Smith serves as an EOD program chief for EOD Air National Guard Airmen across the country. He and his unit, along with the Fort McCoy Counter Improvised Explosive Device/Asymmetric Warfare Team, trained 25 EOD Airmen for two weeks in late June during Exercise Audacious Warrior.
The training took place at both Fort McCoy and Volk Field.
“This is an exercise that allowed them more hands-on training with the tools of their trade,” Smith said. “At Fort McCoy, with the support of the (Improvised Explosive Device/Asymmetric Warfare Team) and the spaces available, we are able to add more realism to give these EOD Airmen the kind of training they need to stay on the cutting edge of readiness for future responses.”
The Airmen came from Air National Guard units from across America.
“Bringing all these Airmen together here to train really provides an excellent opportunity for them to share ideas and information,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gilbert Holcomb, 115th EOD Flight superintendent. “In a career field as small as ours, sharing the (tactics, techniques, and procedures) that are successful is crucial to ensuring everyone’s success.”
Nic Casey, associate and site lead/exercise planner with contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. on the Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED)/Asymmetric Warfare Team, said his team worked with the 115th to have many training aids available for the Airmen, and they developed scenarios that needed problem-solving techniques to complete missions.
“Our team provided many training items that allowed the (EOD Airmen) to use most of the tools they have, which adds to the realism,” Casey said.
Throughout the training, the EOD Airmen completed scenarios in convoy operations, populated area responses for IEDs, and more.
Source: DVIDS