Shaw hosts EOD safety day for Airmen and families

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The 20th Civil Engineer Squadron held an explosive ordnance disposal safety day here Nov. 10 to help drive home the importance of EOD operations.

"Our civil engineer EOD Airmen continue to conduct operations in a dynamic and ever-changing combat environment," said Lt. Gen. Loren Reno, deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support. "The toll on the EOD career field has been significant. Since 2005, we have lost 13 EOD Airmen in combat operations. An additional eight have been seriously injured, losing a limb or more, and over 70 have received one or more Purple Hearts."

Organizers divided the day into two main sections, one that focused on just the flight members and the second half where their families were invited.

They designed the event to help the Airmen and their families recognize the different stresses Airmen faced through deployment and reintegration as well as helpful solutions to deal with it.

An EOD noncommissioned officer who has been deployed since May, and his wife, Gena, have two children, ages, 4, and 6.

"The hardest part about his deployments is not while he's gone," Gena said. "While he's gone we manage to get by day-by-day. The difficult part is the reintegration. He comes back and is really quiet. He doesn't want to talk about the deployment. He tries get back into our routines and re-find his role in the family. It's hard."

During the day, information was given and crosstalks occurred to help the families realize the difficulties the Airmen faced deployed and on the job.

"This really shed a lot of light," said Jennifer, wife of another deployed Airman. "I wasn't aware of how much he had to deal with and think about."

Representatives from the different help agencies on base came and explained the steps that they take to ensure them that these Airmen are a priority.

"A lot of times, it feels like we get lost in the shuffle when we return," said Tech. Sgt. Alejandro Rodriguez, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD. "This was really helpful to us."