As part of the Naval Special Warfare community, Sailors serving in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal rating (EOD) undergo one of the most physically demanding and mentally challenging training regimens in the U.S. military. It also involves stops at nearly a half-dozen Naval facilities across the country.
Following completion of the recruit training that all enlisted Sailors undergo at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, those who have been admitted as candidates to become EODs begin their journey with a three-week EOD Preparatory Course, also held at Great Lakes. Physical conditioning with an emphasis on swimming and other water-proficiency skills is the focus during this period.
From here it’s on to Basic EOD Diver Training held at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida. For two months, future Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians will learn the principles of scuba diving and its practical applications to their jobs; of all the U.S. Military EOD teams, only the Navy’s EOD sailors carry out their duties underwater.
Completion of Basic Diver Training means an eastward journey along Florida’s Gulf Coast to Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Here, they’ll be served the meat-and-potatoes of EOD Training, a 38-week main course called simply Basic EOD Training. Despite the name of the rating, EOD Technicians are faced with more than just explosives: They also must learn how to deal with chemical, biological, and radiological warfare threats. This is just one of the disciplines in which they’ll be immersed for more than in nine months; others include physics, safe munitions disposal, recognition of different ordnance types including IEDs, and disposal/defusing equipment and tools.
Tactical training is taught during the next three weeks of training at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California. Skills taught include small arms, tactical communications, land navigation, and helicopter-insertion techniques (rappelling, Special Purpose Insertion/Extraction operations). For some EOD trainees, yet one more course must be completed: three weeks of Basic Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Only at this point will the Sailor earn the right to wear not only the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge that’s donned by all U.S. military who complete the 38-week course at Eglin Air Force Base, but also the rating Navy’s highly prized and greatly respected EOD rating Badge.
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