EOD Raven’s Challenge, Thailand: Smooth as Silk, and US Soldiers made us Proud! Nearly 400 military, police, and civilian explosives experts attended this year’s Raven’s Challenge in Hua Hin, Thailand. Our Thai hosts managed logistics. Everything flowed so smoothly that our own Soldiers were a little surprised. They are not used to the Thai “Smooth as Silk” way of making things flow like water. Of the seven US Soldiers who attended the week of training, six Soldiers had never been to Thailand. All six wish to return to Thailand. (They have been bitten. There is no turning back.) On the final day of training, 15 EOD teams split up to compete in several EOD basic skills that dealt with hook and lines, and robots. The hook and line techniques are something of an art form that uses ropes, lines, hooks, and other devices to help render harmless explosives that must be moved. Old-time US Army EOD people used many hook and line techniques, but today our people are becoming more dependent on robots. And so some old skills are fading. The Thai government does not invest in the big gear and robots that we use, so Thai EOD uses the old time skills with great effect. The old time skills often are more useful than gadgets and robots. Both have their place. So yesterday, 15 teams competed on the old time skills, and robots. Fourteen teams were Thai, and the last consisted of three young US Soldiers. The oldest member on our team is 25 year-old Staff Sergeant Burge. Burge made combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has two young children at home, and is a pleasure to converse with. Talking with Burge, one might never guess that the man is an EOD combat vet of two wars, other than that he is strapping fit, and has a focused way about him. Our other two team members were Sergeant Hale, an Afghanistan veteran, and Specialist Wilkison, with no combat yet. All three of our team members radiated a quiet confidence and professionalism, but to be sure, I thought they had little chance in hook and line against the 14 far more combat experienced Thai teams, who rely on hook and line techniques. By the way, our men are with the 53rd Ordinance Company (EOD) at Yakima, from the 3rd EOD Battalion at JBLM, Washington, under the 71st EOD Group at Fort Carson, Colorado. If that does not seem to make sense, never mind. The US Army specializes in confusing people, including me, and I have been writing about them for years. Bottom line: Our EOD team is from Yakima, Washington. And so the hook and line competition was tough. The 14 Thai teams seem to all consist of men in their 30s and 40s, with great experience. Our oldest was SSG Burge, at 25, but I heard that all three of our teammates were rated especially high in the US Army. They did not land here by accident. The US Army was putting our best foot forward. To my (and others’) amazement, our Soldiers got 3rd place in hook and line! And 2nd place overall. This made our Soldiers very popular with our Thai hosts, and made this American very happy and proud. Well done.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 06:33:23 +0000
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