Olympic Bomb Disposal Pin???

This item set me thinking. It is not one of own items I just found it when searching a smaller auction site that I use as it is 100% Free to use.

http://www.my-little-auctions.com/item.php?id=7931

A Bomb Disposal Pin issued at the Sydney Olympics of 2000. Who would receive this pin? How many would be issued?

In the UK Bomb Disposal is undertaken by the army. Is it the same in Australia and the United States?

I not imagine that at the Olympics there are hundreds of Bomb Disposal Experts on standby.

The only time I can recall seeing Bomb Disposalal is on TV when some old munitions were found on a farm and a second world war bomb was uncovered on a building site.

There was a great TV show on UK TV called 'Danger UXB' when I was a boy. Anyone else remember this?

In Australia EOD is undertaken by Army, Airfrorce and Navy teams.

During the Olympics the ADF assisted the local police by forming JTF112, Deployed on Op Gold. I was a member of JTF112, undertaking various searches of venues, vehicles and people. We also had EOD as a back up to us and I would assume these pins were issued to those guys. These pins would have been issued to all three services to anyone in a bomb disposal role. Would thik there would be too many of these pins around. If you want specific numbers I could look through a couple of things.

Thanks for the feedback.

It was just a curio that caught my eye, so perhaps there were hundreds of them issued after all.

Originally Posted by bickerstonehall

Olympic Bomb Disposal Pin???

Is it really a pin? It looks a lot like a "challenge coin" to me. They are pretty popular in the military. Units have their own coins, people have them made up for task forces, speciality assignments/details etc. Some have serial numbers and are handed out selectively with only a certain number made but most are made and handed out for service and/or to trade with others. If this is a pin, I imagine it's along the same lines as the challenge coins.

You can usually have them made for a fair price if you order in bulk.

There was a great TV show on UK TV called 'Danger UXB' when I was a boy. Anyone else remember this?

Great show and the EOD guys I've worked with said it's actually pretty accurate for the time it is set and some of the tools they still use today.

Now that you mention it, I would say it is a challenge coin. I was issued with one for the Olympics, its around here somewhere.

Would someone care to explain what a Challenge Coin is?

Who issues them and why?

And

What they are used for?

Many thanks

Here in the U.S I think the navy handles all the EOD ( explosive Ordnance disposal )
but I can't be totally positive, since I never really checked into the others

Wolfen, your army runs teams as well. They had some operating in Iraq along with a couple of Brit teams.

That's good to know, thanks, I'd hate to think that job was left only to one branch. Even though Navy EOD is better