Dyess' ‘Hurt Locker' Guys Do More Than Jeremy Renner Did In His Hit Film
In Part 1 of this series about my recent visit to Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, we covered my rare media flight in a B-1 (link below), a bomber even more lethal than its predecessor, the B-52 - or any other U.S. military aircraft for that matter.
Why so deadly? Because the B-1 can carry more ordnance than the B-52, and can fly just a few hundred feet off the ground with a range of 7,500 miles sans refueling. Oh, and it can go supersonic. We maxed out at Mach 1.13 on our sortie to and from Pecos, New Mexico.
SSgt Junior Diaz (right) explains bomb defusion to Forbes writer Jim Clash (suit), Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, March 28, 2025.
During that flight, we also sent simulated guided bombs to select targets. The inverse of that, if you will, is defusing bombs on the ground. For that process, I was privileged enough to visit Dyess' EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit, a part of the base responsible not for dropping, but for defusing and disposing of live bombs.
First, by truck we were escorted to the demolition range, a secure, desert-like area where Airmen train for their dangerous art. After some background about EOD operations and verbal tutoring - much more involved than what's in 'The Hurt Locker' film that won the Academy Award for best picture in 2009 - I was given a full bomb suit to try on as part of my immersion.
Crude bomb with inert C-4 used in a EOD immersion with Forbes writer Jim Clash, Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, March 28, 2025.
To say it was cumbersome is an understatement. The thing weighs 70 lbs, quite a bit more than the Michelin Man pressure suit I wore on my U-2 flight last summer. The suit is also extremely confining and hot, with no relief other than a small battery-operated fan inside.
But most challenging is the limited mobility. Just to walk requires balance and real physical exertion. First, I knelt, then laid down on my stomach and rolled over, the kind of actions the real guys do as a regular part of their jobs. I was out of breath after just a few minutes. The Airmen actually have a gym on premises to stay in shape.
Then I was asked to stand up and walk a few hundred yards down-range to where the bomb - a crude homemade device in a brown cardboard box - lurked. Inside was a 9-volt battery connected by wires to a small liquid detonator switch attached to a block (inert) of C-4 explosive. The device was deemed too precarious to defuse by hand, so a sophisticated metal robot was used.
Pieces of the crude cardboard box bomb diffused by robot, Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, March 28, 2025.
From a distance in a concrete bunker, I pushed a button that sent an electric signal to the robot, which, in turn, fired the shot. A small puff of an explosion ensued, certainly nowhere near what would have been produced had real C-4 detonated. When we went back down to where the bomb had been, small parts of it were scattered.
Next, just to gauge the power of a real C-4 block, we set up a detonation system whereby we could electronically set it off from the same bunker. Again, I was given a button to push, and, sure enough, a much more robust explosion ensued in the distance.
C-4 detonation, Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, March 28, 2025.
After heading back down-range, we encountered a large crater produced by the explosion. It's amazing just how powerful one block of C-4 is.
To sum up my brief experience, it's hard to imagine that these EOD Airmen work in such cramped suits for hours at a time, in much harsher conditions and in unfamiliar territory, scouring the ground for all types of unexploded ordnance - land mines, grenades, pipe bombs, radio-controlled IED's - you name it, they encounter it.
Starting back left: Staff Sgt. Junior Diaz, A1C Jose Collado, SrA Tylor Van Grinsven, Art Harman (Forbes), SrA Dante Bernardi. Front left: Jim Clash (Forbes), A1C Lillian Lovelace, AlC Dominic Potter.
My immersion in just a tiny part of what they do continues to strengthen my belief about the skill and commitment of USAF personnel. Thank you for your service, folks (photo above).
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