Olympic Bomb Disposal Pin???

bickerstonehall

bickerstonehall

Active member
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?
 
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.
 
bickerstonehall said:
Olympic Bomb Disposal Pin???
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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?
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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.
 
Challenge Coin?

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 :)
 
wolfen said:
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 :)
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The Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army all have EOD. One isn't better than the other as they all attend the same exact school down at Eglin AFB.

Civilian agencies also have guys. They are called hazardous devices techs though. Same concept but they get much less training, HDS school is only 4 weeks long and they won't train on military munitions.


bickerstonehall said:
Would someone care to explain what a Challenge Coin is?
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I did explain it. In my first post. :p I'll do it again though. Challenge coins are coins that units and individuals have made up to represent different things. Most units have a unit coin. Then you get task forces that will make up coins. A lot of speciality schools issue a coin upon graduation. EOD, Special Forces Qualification, SEALs BUD/s, Sniper School, etc. For the school coins, they usually have a serial number and are not given out to anyone except those that completed the course. Civilian agencies have coins too, FBI units, etc.

They are just mementos to signify a certain event, assignment or experience that individuals have accomplished or endured. The ones that aren't issued with a serial number are personal and can't be traded. The unit coins and other little coins made up for joint operations, assignments etc. Many times guys will order a dozen or so and use them to trade other units/individuals for their coins. Kind of like trading baseball cards or patches.

There's also a tradition with the coins. We're at a bar and you hear a heavy coin hit the table. If you don't have a coin to drop as well, you get to buy the next round. If you do have a coin, the guy that originally coin checked (dropped the coin) gets to buy the round.
 
PJ24 said:
The Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army all have EOD. One isn't better than the other as they all attend the same exact school down at Eglin AFB.

Civilian agencies also have guys. They are called hazardous devices techs though. Same concept but they get much less training, HDS school is only 4 weeks long and they won't train on military munitions.
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Nope Navy rules,

The civilians around here are called the bomb squad, and your right about them getting less training, the bomb squad here in Va Beach is a useful a d a tick on your butt
 
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