i am currently enlisted in the army and am waiting to be shipped out to basic training at fort jackson south carolina. my question to evrybody/andbody out there is this: i am an E.O.D. specialist and its something ive always wanted to do. but i am nowhere near as prepared as i need to be on the field i chose, (if thats even possible, considering what im doing) so i was wondering if there were any other E.O.D. specialist out there who could give me any advice as to what i can expect in ait cause i know that basic training is the same for everybody regardless of your mos. i leave for basic on 24 november and after that i go to ait in ft leonard wood, missouri (or ft. lost in the woods, misery as ive heard its been called numerous times) so any information on where im going for ait and the kind of training ill be doing would be greatly appreciated, no matter what its about. thank you for your time

I hope you read this before you go but your job is cool as hell. You blow up like grenades and bombs that are duds. Duds mean it didnt blow up like it was supposed to. Basic Training is cake dont even worry about it. The hardest part is adapting to being on your own.

BCT is cake - but you damn sure better pay attention in AIT. Your job is in very high demand right now - along with the standard EOD job of clearing UXOs in Iraq and Afghanistan, you have an extremely intense operating environment in Iraq where the EOD teams are dealing with a very high number of IEDs of all types every single day. A single EOD team may get up to 60 call-outs on a single day in Iraq.

Good luck man. I have been trying to reclass to that job forever. But unfortunatley I am locked in for the moment. I have no advice for you but I do know that your AIT is around 18 months long and very tough. Good luck in Iraq because unlees we pull out before your done you happy butt is going over there.

I'm chemical and I would do a lot of crazy things(going in a live nerve agent chamber) Infantry,SF, ranger but for some reason EOD scares me! You have some big b@ll$! The good thing about EOD is you get a butt load of special pays and you get to do a lot of highspeed training. Its a really good MOS. Good luck! You just relax and listen to your DS's and instructors and you will be fine!!

GOOD LUCK!!

I would assume that you're already in BCT, I just wanted to write you and let you know a little bit about EOD that you may not know.

First of all, I don't know why you will be going to AIT at Fort Leanordwood, the MOS training that EOD Techs receive is at Eglin AFB, FL, and Redstone Arsenal. The school is very long though and challenging especially if you have a family. I was stationed as a support soldier with EOD for over three and a half years. I know many of the company commanders/first sergeants and battalion leaders that are still in the EOD program.

Right now is the most difficult time for EOD Soldiers because as one other put it, they are quiet simply the most needed fighter in the Iraqi theater. Imagine this, all of the news you hear about roadside bombs, suicide bombers, etc. First of all those are only the ones that go off and yet still only the ones reported, normally when there are casualties to US personnel. EOD responds to every single type of ordnance issue that you can imagine, not just grenades and IEDs. Ranges where you fire your M-16, smalltown America when somebody finds a nameless package in their mailbox, you name it.

In the theater though many EOD techs work seven days a week, 18 hours a day. When I was there last year in August we did an operation which started at 0400 and didn't end until 1600, that's 12 hours, it started with a convoy to a neighborhood, then a four hour operation of defueling a rocket, then the convoy to the demolition site. We detonated, and made our way back to camp, on the way we were struck by an IED, thankfully we all made it out of there ok. That day I watched the techs perform their jobs flawlessly all the while being demanded of in so many ways, physically, emotionally, and mentally. EOD has rid the country of literally more than 20 million pounds of ordnance. If you think about this you must think about the manpower that has had to do it since March of 2003. It's incredible!

Working with these select few was an absolute pleasure and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else. If you would like to know more about EOD there are 37 companies that you can contact, also check out http://www.forscom.army.mil/52ndeod

This is a website that may be able to give you some more information.

Good Luck.

I have recently re-enlisted but because of credit problems I was denied EOD. I have setup a plan to clear up all of my credit issues, and I'm paying for a background check on myself to help ensure I have all the information the Army wants for a TS clearance.

Is there a chance I will be able to get EOD in let's say 1-2 yrs when my next re-up window opens? -and- is there anything else I need to do?

Optimally I would go EOD right this second if they would let me, I have great scores, maybe theres someone out there in recruiting that could help me get there?