Camp Fuji EOD team builds simulated IEDs
>CAMP FUJI, Japan — Sgt. Paul Bui knows something is wrong with the rice cooker in his office.
Maybe it’s because of where it’s placed — on a top shelf, where it can’t be used. Or perhaps it is the suspicious-looking wires sticking out of it. But maybe, just maybe, it’s because of the words written in big blue letters across the outside of the device: DIE MARINE.
Bui, an explosive ordnance disposal technician at Camp Fuji, suspects the rice cooker is actually an IED — or improvised explosive device — and reaches for his equipment. The device in question is only a simulated device built by one of his teammates, Sgt. Joshua L. Cristolear, who observes from nearby.
This week, members of Camp Fuji’s EOD team built their own simulated bombs and then had other team members analyze and attempt to dispose of the devices.
“Every single IED is built from the imagination, which is why I have them build IEDs for each other,” explained Master Sgt. Michael Burghardt, Camp Fuji’s EOD chief.
The training began with the making of the IEDs, followed by team members determining how to disarm the bombs at a practice range Thursday.
On the range, the IEDs were wired to real blasting caps and placed at a distance so Marines could see if their procedures worked, Cristolear said. “Sometimes we place some pretty hard challenges for each other,” he said, adding that by building their own bombs, technicians can better understand how they work.
At a work station near Bui, who was busy X-raying the rice cooker, Sgt. Ian Jones was building another IED. Jones said the process is more than just sticking together a few wires and some explosives, and that he has to think about how his target will react.
“There are certain givens that have to happen during the process,” he said. “Including making sure the bomb goes off when I want it to.”
Overall, the Marines said, their training experience is designed not only to keep their skills fresh but to give them a better understanding of the constantly changing threats they could face.
“That’s what makes the job so fun,” Burghardt said. “It’s never the same thing twice.”
