Email   Print   Share By Sgt. Christopher Calvert, 13th PAD

Facebook Digg Delicious August 23, 2012 | Living

An EOD specialist with the 22nd Chem. Bn., 48th Chem. Bde., 20th Spt. Cmd. (CBRNE), checks for chemical contamination during the 2012 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team of the Year competition at Fort Knox, Ky., Aug. 15. Sgt. Christopher Calvert, 13th PAD

An explosive ordnance disposal specialist with the 22nd Chem. Bn., 48th Chem. Bde., 20th Spt. Cmd. (CBRNE), fires an M4 Carbine at unexploded ordnance while another Soldier spots his rounds during the 2012 EOD Team of the Year competition Aug. 15 at Fort Knox, Ky.. Sgt. Christopher Calvert, 13th PAD

An EOD specialist with the 363rd EOD Team, 741st Battalion, 111th EOD Group, examines the remains of exploded munitions found on a vehicle during the 2012 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team of the Year competition Aug. 15 at Fort Knox, Ky. Sgt. Christopher Calvert, 13th PAD

FORT KNOX, Ky. - The 20th Support Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield explosives) hosted the 2012 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team of the Year competition Aug. 13-17.

“This competition allows EOD teams within U.S. Army Forces Command the opportunity to come together and compete to see who’s the best of the best,” said Command Sgt. Maj. David Puig, senior enlisted advisor for 20th Spt. Cmd. (CBRNE). “This is a great opportunity for EOD operators to showcase all of their skills for the first time at the division level.”

Puig said the competition not only showcased the teams’ skills, but also allowed junior team members the opportunity to step up.

“During this culminating event, the team leaders are here taking charge and using their individual methods to accomplish the objective, but it’s the team members who gain the most,” Puig said. “These young sergeants and specialists are learning from team leaders from throughout the U.S., and it’s a guarantee these team members here today will benefit from this experience and be our great team leaders in the future.”

Sgt. Matthew Eldridge, 22nd Chemical Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade, competed during the event and said it honed his skills as an EOD specialist over the week.

“These trials are really going to help me become more proficient in the future,” Eldridge said. “When we are under stress, we rely on our skills, and we still have to be able to perform under adverse conditions. This competition really pushed our skills to the max, and it’s nice to have the opportunity to compete.”

EOD teams provide support to land forces in a variety of operations including peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts by providing identification, rendering safe limited sensitive site and post-blast exploitation, as well as responding around the clock to military munitions found in the U.S.