EOD cuts ribbon in EOD fashion Published May 13, 2016 By Douglas Hays 434 ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind., -- With a flip of a switch the powerful jaws cut a cable and officially opened up Grissom’s latest facility.The 434th Civil Engineer Squadron’s explosive ordnance flight cut a ribbon in EOD fashion to christen their new facility here May 9.“This is a good news story,” said Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander. “From the ground up the EOD team designed and fashioned a facility to meet their specific needs and we see the fruit of their efforts today.”The facility will provide a permanent home for the unit that first started arriving at Grissom in 2011 before becoming fully operational in 2014.The $360,000 remodel of the facility gives the unit 15,000 square feet for office, training and storage area in addition to their 3,120 square-foot vehicle bay.The unit, assigned to the 434th CES, has three missions. First and foremost is the protection of the base and base assets against any explosive devices or devices of terrorism. Secondly, they provide EOD response for military munitions in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, and finally they are responsible for organizing training, and equipping deployable EOD technicians.Grissom’s EOD supports tristate law enforcement agencies for their explosive needs. In fact, they were the first Air Force Reserve Command unit to respond and render safe an improvised explosive device off base.In 2012, they made their first official run in support of off base requests. In 2013, that number jumped to six events. In 2014 they took action 11 times. In 2015 they were requested and responded to 18 events.Thus far in 2016 they have made seven runs with the most recent being May 2.They complete their mission with six full-time members and eight traditional reservists.The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. The men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.Stay connected, visit Grissom on Facebook and Twitter.
