Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
January 11, 2008 By Louis Hansen, The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH -- As he welcomed the Navy’s newest cadre of bomb-disposal technicians Thursday, Rear Adm. Donald K. Bullard had words of thanks – and warning.
The country is fighting a long, “generational war,” he said, and homemade bombs have become the weapon of choice in a growing number of conflicts worldwide.
The sailors’ bomb-disposal unit, part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, will continue to play a large and vigorous role.
“Whether we pull out of Iraq or Afghanistan tomorrow,” Bullard told the audience, “we will still be involved.”
It was a familiar sight. Since its inception two years ago this month, NECC has established several new units, sending sailors into ground and coastal missions around the world.
Bullard, who retires today, and his staff have taken the command from a handful of planners to a force of 40,000 sailors.
Many of them have joined the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But Bullard said the command is not just about Iraq. It sent sailors to 41 countries last year.
These forces have bolstered the Navy’s network of land and coastal security commands in port security, and coastal and inland waters.
Three riverine squadrons – designed for rivers and inland waterways – have been built from scratch, and two have deployed to Iraq. It’s the first active-duty foreign deployment of Navy river rats since the Vietnam War.
The land-based sailors’ missions have grown so rapidly that the Navy has ordered 540 new heavy-duty, mine-resistant vehicles to operate in combat zones.
One of the busiest communities within the new command has been explosive ordnance disposal.
Their ranks have expanded because of the demands of the Iraqi war. Technicians have disarmed thousands of bombs in Iraq. Several have been wounded or killed in combat.
They are in such demand that EOD units have been spending more time training and deployed than at home – sometimes with as little as six months between deployments.
The establishment at Little Creek of the new unit – Mobile EOD unit 12, dubbed the “Dirty Dozen” – on Thursday may be able make sailors’ schedules more predictable and allow more time at home.
For sailors, belonging to a larger command has paid benefits.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Jack Brisbin enlisted in the Navy 22 years ago. As a young EOD technician, he said, his unit received plenty of assignments but little equipment or support.
Brisbin scrounged for second-hand equipment at navy salvage yards to supplement gear for his platoon.
The relatively small EOD community – with about 1,200 working sailors worldwide – is dwarfed even by the crew of a single aircraft carrier.
“We’re not a ship, we’re not a submarine,” Brisbin said. “That’s a small number for the big Navy.”
Being part of the new command has meant better equipment and training facilities, he said. It’s made a “tremendous difference,” he said.
The command has also developed enhanced cultural and language training for boots-on-the-ground sailors. Bullard believes that will help the Navy establish long-term relationships with struggling countries and prevent them from becoming harbors for terrorism.
Bullard began his career 35 years ago as a naval aviator, and he went on to help establish a Navy presence in the Horn of Africa.
He was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and he lost several friends. The attacks came to define his focus. The Navy, he said, can stabilize failing countries with a steady presence, military exchanges and cultural awareness.
The command, Bullard said, “has a good vision for the future.”
January 11, 2008 By Louis Hansen, The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH -- As he welcomed the Navy’s newest cadre of bomb-disposal technicians Thursday, Rear Adm. Donald K. Bullard had words of thanks – and warning.
The country is fighting a long, “generational war,” he said, and homemade bombs have become the weapon of choice in a growing number of conflicts worldwide.
The sailors’ bomb-disposal unit, part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, will continue to play a large and vigorous role.
“Whether we pull out of Iraq or Afghanistan tomorrow,” Bullard told the audience, “we will still be involved.”
It was a familiar sight. Since its inception two years ago this month, NECC has established several new units, sending sailors into ground and coastal missions around the world.
Bullard, who retires today, and his staff have taken the command from a handful of planners to a force of 40,000 sailors.
Many of them have joined the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But Bullard said the command is not just about Iraq. It sent sailors to 41 countries last year.
These forces have bolstered the Navy’s network of land and coastal security commands in port security, and coastal and inland waters.
Three riverine squadrons – designed for rivers and inland waterways – have been built from scratch, and two have deployed to Iraq. It’s the first active-duty foreign deployment of Navy river rats since the Vietnam War.
The land-based sailors’ missions have grown so rapidly that the Navy has ordered 540 new heavy-duty, mine-resistant vehicles to operate in combat zones.
One of the busiest communities within the new command has been explosive ordnance disposal.
Their ranks have expanded because of the demands of the Iraqi war. Technicians have disarmed thousands of bombs in Iraq. Several have been wounded or killed in combat.
They are in such demand that EOD units have been spending more time training and deployed than at home – sometimes with as little as six months between deployments.
The establishment at Little Creek of the new unit – Mobile EOD unit 12, dubbed the “Dirty Dozen” – on Thursday may be able make sailors’ schedules more predictable and allow more time at home.
For sailors, belonging to a larger command has paid benefits.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Jack Brisbin enlisted in the Navy 22 years ago. As a young EOD technician, he said, his unit received plenty of assignments but little equipment or support.
Brisbin scrounged for second-hand equipment at navy salvage yards to supplement gear for his platoon.
The relatively small EOD community – with about 1,200 working sailors worldwide – is dwarfed even by the crew of a single aircraft carrier.
“We’re not a ship, we’re not a submarine,” Brisbin said. “That’s a small number for the big Navy.”
Being part of the new command has meant better equipment and training facilities, he said. It’s made a “tremendous difference,” he said.
The command has also developed enhanced cultural and language training for boots-on-the-ground sailors. Bullard believes that will help the Navy establish long-term relationships with struggling countries and prevent them from becoming harbors for terrorism.
Bullard began his career 35 years ago as a naval aviator, and he went on to help establish a Navy presence in the Horn of Africa.
He was at the Pentagon during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and he lost several friends. The attacks came to define his focus. The Navy, he said, can stabilize failing countries with a steady presence, military exchanges and cultural awareness.
The command, Bullard said, “has a good vision for the future.”