MANHATTAN, Kan. - The 162nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company from the 84th EOD Battalion at Fort Riley treated about 120 Northview Elementary School children to some special demonstrations March 4. The children are part of an after school program that focuses on academic and enrichment activities.
Sue Mountford, the program's coordinator, was especially complimentary of the support given by the Fort Riley unit. "Northview Elementary has the largest population of children from military Families in Manhattan. Events like this are so important to building community relations and besides that, the demonstrations were very cool!"
Nine Soldiers from the 162nd EOD Co., a brand new EOD unit on Fort Riley, demonstrated their technical skills and various pieces of EOD equipment meant to protect civilians and Soldiers and save lives in a combat environment.
"Improvised explosive devices are the number one killer of Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Capt. Lucas Towne, 162nd EOD Co. commander. "Besides protecting Soldiers and others from IEDs, identifying and disposing of enemy weapons caches, and protecting personnel and property from other explosive hazards are especially important in today's operational environment."
The children learned more about the Army and the important work done by EOD units at one of four different stations they rotated through during the program. At one station, Sgts. Eric Haussecker and Josh Meredith explained several EOD tools like the Percussion Actuated Neutralizer Disrupter. At another station, Sgt. Billy Wilkes and Spc. Kevin Cheatham demonstrated the Pacbot, an EOD robot controlled by radio or wired control to handle situations involving potential explosives.
The children paid close attention and laughed as the Talon EOD robots scooted around the playground picking up various objects while Sgt. Jeremy Walsh and Pfc. Adam Lendt explained how the robots help in search and recovery efforts to include those similar to the efforts in which they were used after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Spcs. Scott Archdekin and Richard Partridge along with Towne took on a barrage of questions as children learned about various types of military ordnance and the capabilities of the bomb suit used by EOD Soldiers.
Austin Telck, a fifth-grader, said he especially enjoyed the Talon robots and noted the Soldiers were sure having fun showing off the robots. He did express some genuine concern, however, when he said, "I think that guy in the bomb suit wants out of there pretty bad. He looks mighty hot."
Liz Fanning, one of 20 after school leaders and a journalism major at Kansas State University, said she was as excited as the kids and very much appreciated the Soldiers taking time to come to the school and provide everyone such a great learning experience. Fanning and all involved in the activity took enjoyment in expressions on the children's faces when the Pacbot was driven right up to them and then started talking.
"I'm glad to learn about all this," said one student, Aliyah Ryan, "But I'm really glad there are Soldiers who can protect us from these dangerous bombs."
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