NETC commander visits EOD school

  • Published
  • By Ens. Elizabeth Allen
  • Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Diving Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Rear Adm. Don Quinn, the commander of Naval Education and Training Command, visited the Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mar. 14 for a familiarization tour.

This was the first briefing at NAVSCOLEOD for Quinn, who assumed responsibility as commander of NETC Jan. 30. The admiral spoke with school leadership, instructors and students about the rigorous course of study and what it takes to become an EOD technician.

The tour covered several divisions of the basic course, such as Demolition, where students learn the fundamentals of explosives; improvised explosive devices, which includes instruction on the use of remote-controlled robots to disarm explosives; and underwater ordnance, the culmination of NAVSCOLEOD for Navy students, where they combine dive and EOD training to disarm underwater ordnance.

Quinn had nothing but positive words to say about the school.

"The best part of the tour today was the people," said Quinn. "Their passion, dedication, and esprit-de-corps are obvious. I hope to come back and spend more time learning about how we build the world's finest EOD technicians. As always, our training is our asymmetric advantage and the instructors who provide that training are superb. They are Fleet Sailors who bring their experience and expertise back to train future generations. Excellence breeds excellence."

More than 250 military, government civilian and contractor instructors teach students from all four services EOD skills. Master Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Peter Beville is the leading chief petty officer in charge of training.

"I have divisions with different leadership in them - with Air Force officers and Marine officers, and senior enlisted from each of the services as instructors," said Beville. "How they train the students and how they take care of the students and mentor them - that works extremely well."

The tour included an opportunity for Quinn to don a bomb suit with the guidance of instructors and Navy students, and the chance to operate a robot used to disarm IEDs.