Panda
11 December 2008, 12:45
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_345225219.html
US Navy bomb expert discusses his job
By Cate Lecuyer
staff writer
BEVERLY — Interested in joining the Navy?
Even if you're not, a retired Navy SEAL recruiter and officers from other special program divisions tomorrow will be showing off some of the latest equipment they use and talking about the history, responsibilities and extremes of joining that branch of the military.
High school students are encouraged to attend, as well as local police and the North Shore Frogmen, the dive team that organized the event.
Retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief Bill Atkinson will show a multimedia presentation about the different opportunities the Navy offers. They're also bringing a semi truck filled with underwater robots, ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles), X-ray equipment, bomb suits and other "toys," as bomb expert U.S. Navy Senior Chief Todd Sheckley, 39, calls them.
As an explosive ordnance disposal technician, he provides a glimpse into his job.
Q: So, what exactly do you do?
A: I'm an explosive ordinance disposal technician for the New England Response Team for the Department of Defense. If they need a bomb taken apart, we'll do it for them. We take apart everything from BBs to thermal nuclear weapons. It's crazy.
Q: How long have you been in the Navy?
A: 20 years.
Q: Why did you join?
A: I knew I wanted to jump out of planes and dive and blow things up before I joined the Navy. We break things, and they give you cool toys to play with.
Q: I understand you're bringing some of them with you.
A: I'm bringing land robots. Two of them are the type we use in Iraq. They take stuff apart so we don't have to. We're very cut-and-dry. We're only going to blow up once."
Q: That's seriously a high-pressure job. How do you handle it?
A: If someone told you they were never scared, they'd be lying to you. It's funny how the training takes over. You don't really think about it until afterward. If we stopped and pondered what we were doing, we'd probably never leave our shop.
Q: What kinds of things do you take apart?
A: Mostly everything we do is classified. If it were to get out, a terrorist group could study it and use it against us."
Q: Have you been to Iraq?
A: I stopped counting countries in '94, and I think I was at 40. I think I've been to 12 of the Caribbean islands, all for free. Most of my time in Iraq was pre-invasion time, but I've been to Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia. I helped clean up after the Gulf War. We're still blowing stuff up from World War I and World War II.
Q: What do you mean?
A: If a fisherman finds something in his net, we go. Rocket launchers wash up on the beach; torpedoes are caught in fishing nets. That's what I do in New England. A lot of times, people will have some of this stuff in their house. They'll have a Revolutionary War cannon ball that they use as a doorstop, or they grabbed a German hand grenade. There's stuff left over that someone's got to take care of. You can't just leave it lying around.
Q: What was your last demolition?
A: It was out in Devens last Saturday. It was some old, I'm guessing possibly World War II or maybe World War I, projectiles.
Q: Where was it?
A: It was on a construction site.
Q: This sounds like a really cool job.
A: "It's an interesting job. It's not dull. You can study it and study it, and still learn something new. Most people really don't understand bomb technicians. It's you versus it, and it's a challenge. Mostly you'll find adrenaline junkies. But it's probably the most technical school the Navy has besides nuclear technician. I would say over the course of my 20 years, I've spent five years in school, training and retraining. We tend to be over-professional, so we don't blow ourselves up. Or a civilian. That would be worse.
Q: Any advice to someone who wants to get into this?
A: My advice would be to stay off drugs, and you have to have a clean police record. Study hard in school and work out a lot, because it's a very demanding career field.
US Navy bomb expert discusses his job
By Cate Lecuyer
staff writer
BEVERLY — Interested in joining the Navy?
Even if you're not, a retired Navy SEAL recruiter and officers from other special program divisions tomorrow will be showing off some of the latest equipment they use and talking about the history, responsibilities and extremes of joining that branch of the military.
High school students are encouraged to attend, as well as local police and the North Shore Frogmen, the dive team that organized the event.
Retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief Bill Atkinson will show a multimedia presentation about the different opportunities the Navy offers. They're also bringing a semi truck filled with underwater robots, ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles), X-ray equipment, bomb suits and other "toys," as bomb expert U.S. Navy Senior Chief Todd Sheckley, 39, calls them.
As an explosive ordnance disposal technician, he provides a glimpse into his job.
Q: So, what exactly do you do?
A: I'm an explosive ordinance disposal technician for the New England Response Team for the Department of Defense. If they need a bomb taken apart, we'll do it for them. We take apart everything from BBs to thermal nuclear weapons. It's crazy.
Q: How long have you been in the Navy?
A: 20 years.
Q: Why did you join?
A: I knew I wanted to jump out of planes and dive and blow things up before I joined the Navy. We break things, and they give you cool toys to play with.
Q: I understand you're bringing some of them with you.
A: I'm bringing land robots. Two of them are the type we use in Iraq. They take stuff apart so we don't have to. We're very cut-and-dry. We're only going to blow up once."
Q: That's seriously a high-pressure job. How do you handle it?
A: If someone told you they were never scared, they'd be lying to you. It's funny how the training takes over. You don't really think about it until afterward. If we stopped and pondered what we were doing, we'd probably never leave our shop.
Q: What kinds of things do you take apart?
A: Mostly everything we do is classified. If it were to get out, a terrorist group could study it and use it against us."
Q: Have you been to Iraq?
A: I stopped counting countries in '94, and I think I was at 40. I think I've been to 12 of the Caribbean islands, all for free. Most of my time in Iraq was pre-invasion time, but I've been to Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia. I helped clean up after the Gulf War. We're still blowing stuff up from World War I and World War II.
Q: What do you mean?
A: If a fisherman finds something in his net, we go. Rocket launchers wash up on the beach; torpedoes are caught in fishing nets. That's what I do in New England. A lot of times, people will have some of this stuff in their house. They'll have a Revolutionary War cannon ball that they use as a doorstop, or they grabbed a German hand grenade. There's stuff left over that someone's got to take care of. You can't just leave it lying around.
Q: What was your last demolition?
A: It was out in Devens last Saturday. It was some old, I'm guessing possibly World War II or maybe World War I, projectiles.
Q: Where was it?
A: It was on a construction site.
Q: This sounds like a really cool job.
A: "It's an interesting job. It's not dull. You can study it and study it, and still learn something new. Most people really don't understand bomb technicians. It's you versus it, and it's a challenge. Mostly you'll find adrenaline junkies. But it's probably the most technical school the Navy has besides nuclear technician. I would say over the course of my 20 years, I've spent five years in school, training and retraining. We tend to be over-professional, so we don't blow ourselves up. Or a civilian. That would be worse.
Q: Any advice to someone who wants to get into this?
A: My advice would be to stay off drugs, and you have to have a clean police record. Study hard in school and work out a lot, because it's a very demanding career field.