ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
The 316th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal team at Andrews does not just blow stuff up, they help ensure the safety and security of the president, the country's top leaders and foreign dignitaries by providing sweeps of the flight line, the Presidential Terminal and all passengers' luggage.
On occasion, EOD even helps outside Andrews gates, serving Maryland and other states in the Eastern region.
The 316 CES EOD recently responded to an event in Carroll County, Md.
"We got the call from the Maryland State Police Bomb Squad that ordnance was found on a property, so we drove up to help them out," said Staff Sgt. Michael Dove, 316 CES EOD NCO in charge of operations.
More than 1,000 rounds of small arms, mortars and grenades were found on the property of a Carroll County resident who had recently passed away. The resident's son was clearing out the property, when he came across the armaments in a bunker and called the state for help.
"From what they were telling us about the situation, we were hoping we brought enough stuff," said Senior Airman Johnny Mai, 316 CES EOD NCO in charge of supply.
Airman Mai and other members of the EOD recovered Composition-4 plastic explosives, also known as C-4. In the EOD world, C-4 is a preferred method for controlled explosions, as it has a shattering effect on the items being blown up, whereas dynamite pushes the items out to the surrounding area, causing a much more dangerous situation, said Sergeant Dove.
Sergeant Dove explained that when he and other EOD members went to the bunker, they found very old armaments, some of which were so old he didn't even know what they were or how they worked.
"Some of it looked like it was from the 1800s. I had never seen some of the things that were in this guy's collection," Sergeant Dove said.
To get rid of everything in the bunker, the EOD team, the state police and the property owner's son dug three holes approximately one foot deep and three feet wide and emplaced the weaponry and blocks of C-4.
"It was a pretty big explosion," Airman Mai said. "The neighbor on the next property over complained that we knocked down photos off the wall. The son was surprised that all the leaves came off the trees and that we left such huge holes after the explosion."
The Carroll County, Md., excursion was just one of many local missions for the Andrews EOD team. They serve West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, as well. Just last month, the Andrews EOD team went to Fort AP Hill, Va., to assist in a situation where a civilian fisherman found himself on post property and, worse, found himself in a particularly precarious situation.
"His trolling motor on his boat got entangled in some live explosives that could have actually exploded," said Staff Sgt. Wayne Winder, 316 CES EOD NCO in charge of training. "The lake was used for training and evidently someone forgot it, but this fisherman found it."
Sergeant Winder explained that the explosive did not go off and the wire got caught on the motor. The fisherman untangled the wire, brought it to shore and called it into the authorities.
"He's a pretty lucky guy. There was a detonating cord, a blasting cap and some C-4 all set up and ready to go. It's pretty amazing that it didn't go off. That is probably the most memorable call I've had so far with EOD," Sergeant Winder explained.