My Brother's Unit is making Headlines

Here's an article that has been published in the Military Rags:

Slice:

When the command post announces “Attention on the net, this is Panther, alarm red is in effect,” Airmen here don their protective gear and take cover. The base is under attack...

... Once alarm red is called, the EOD Airmen must respond to the point of impact to see if the munition detonated or if it needs to be disarmed or destroyed...

... “We get to do here what we’ve actually been trained to do,” said Chief Master Sgt. Mike Bernard, EOD flight chief, who is deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. “From rocket attacks, to mortar attacks, to roadside (improvised explosive devices), to vehicle-born IEDs, that’s what we get here.”

Because of the base’s location in the Sunni triangle, this makes the EOD troops some of the busiest on base, officials said.

“We do a lot of stuff here that a lot of EOD people don’t get the chance to do,” said Master Sgt. Justin Anderson, the flight’s chief of flight operations, who is deployed from Hurlburt Field, Fla. “We get a lot of business here.”

Not only do the Airmen respond to on-base attacks, they also work with Soldiers to go off the base.

“You get a great feeling going ‘outside the wire’ rendering (harmless) extremely dangerous items that were designed to kill or hurt coalition forces and the locals,” Sergeant Anderson said. “After we’ve safely removed those hazards, we know that we’ve saved lives.”