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'Hurt Locker' Oscars casts spotlight on Ellsworth EOD team |
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 16:39 |
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The film The Hurt Locker took home six Academy Awards last weekend, and now the movie is making people wonder just how realistic it really is. Black Hills FOX Reporter Amanda Weber got an inside look at Ellsworth Air Force Base and how their Explosive Ordinance Disposal or E-O-D team operates.
The film the Hurt Locker follows three members of the Army's elite E-O-D team in action through Iraq, but the E-O-D team at Ellsworth Air Force base says the movie isn't all that realistic. Ellsworth E-O-D team leader, Staff Sergeant Jayson Wells says he makes the final decisions on what to do when encountered with an improvised explosive device. He says the equipment used in the film is all very realistic, but unlike the movie, he can't take any risks because all responsibility falls on him.S taff Sgt. Jayson Wells says, "Were not cowboys like that, in the sense that were going to expose or unnecessarily expose ourselves to danger every time we get called out to whatever the call is going to be." Wells has been deployed to Iraq three times, and has had four close encounters while there. He says he has never been dubbed a cowboy, and it's a title you don't want. Wells says, "If you are being a cowboy you're going to expose your teammates to possibly life-threatening situations and you don't want to do that, if something happens to you, your team has to take over." The E-O-D team at Ellsworth Air force base has been trained to save lives doing one of the world's most dangerous jobs. The team goes through at least nine months of intense training before being cleared for action. Staff Sergeant Patrick Heltne has been deployed twice and says the training they get here at Ellsworth prepares you for realistic situations overseas. Staff Sgt. Patrick Heltne says, "Everything that we do here is everything that they have done over there, so were totally prepared when we get in country and on the ground." The team is trained for multiple types of scenarios, some more common than others. The robot which was used in the film is what Sergeant Wells says is the most common device they use overseas. The E-O-D team at Ellsworth trains to use the robot in what is called a cell-phone IED situation where the bomb is detonated remotely with a cell phone. The robot is designed to take care of the bomb before that happens.Sgt. Wells says, "If the robot detonates because the bomb detonates then we have lost a few hundred thousand dollar piece of equipment, but my guys and girls are safe."Staff Sergeant Joshua Vickrey enrolled in the E-O-D training program in January. He says the film has gotten him even more excited about his new career. Staff Sgt. Joshua Vickrey says, "I joined the military after 9-11 to make a difference, no better way than stopping people from blowing us up than EOD." And Sgt. Wells says as Ellsworth's E-O-D team leader it's an honor that this film focused on their field. Wells says, "I just appreciate the fact that they took the time to tell our story." Amanda Weber says, "It may not be just like the movies, but it's definitely not something anyone could do. At Ellsworth Air Force Base, I'm Amanda Weber, Black Hills FOX News." |
