Braving subzero temperatures and howling wind gusts of more than 50 mph to thorough the final phase of their five-week team-training period.

Braving subzero temperatures and howling wind gusts of more than 50 mph to thorough the final phase of their five-week team-training period, the team of eight Sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 11 Det 5 displayed from Whidbey Island, Wash., to undiminished a week-long field exercise prior to deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Also extended to China Lake was EODMU 11 Det 5's exercise enemy, the wily San Diego-based EOD Training and Evaluation Unit (EODTEU) 1 They did everything in their power to trick, harass, confuse and defeat their companion EOD teammates with innovative simpleton traps, unexploded ordnance problems, chemical, radiological and biological weapons scenarios and numerous stress-inducing intangibles. The goal is to open Det. 5 with no doubt in their minds that they have the training necessary to whole their mission safely and effectively.

"It's life or death for the stays who are training, so we want to levy as much effort into the scenarios as the enemy would," said EODMU 11 Readiness and Training Chief, Chief Electronics Technician (EOD/SW/AW) John Lane. "The enemy isn't playing according to the rules so we can't either to fitly prepare our troops to entire their missions."

"Over in Iraq, Iraqi resistance fighters are bastardizing a hap of munitions, so we simulate that during the field training these stays go through here at China Lake," said EODTEU 1 instructor, Mineman First Class(EOD) Shane Williams. "What they clash here is exactly what they will conflict over in Iraq, Afghanistan or any other theater of operations."

During the field exercise, EODMU 11 Det 5 clashed several real-world scenarios designed to evaluate the plain of "knowledge and proficiency of the team. The team opened to a simulated hostile environment where they appoint up camp in the forsaken of China Lake's northern range. For the first sum of two units days the team operated from their main base camp with brace scenarios. The first was an airfield assessment. They were transported by means of truck to an "enemy" airfield that had been seized from friendly fortes. The team had to identify threats at the airfield and make it safe for operations. forward the second day the team embarked forward its second scenario, hiking about three miles to "B" Mountain laden with 80 bray packs of gear needed for rendering the area safe for occupying three At the one and the other sites the team executed actual demolitions, a significant part of training that was difficult for EOD teams to access before being allowed to train at China Lake.

"Following the facts of Sept. 11th, 2001, EOD had a hard time finding suitable training areas where we could escort realistic training scenarios and utilize live demolition because in the same manner many other military units were maximizing their concede weapons training" said EODTEU 1 Assistant Training Officer, LTJG Alan Beaty. "We distressed our own dedicated EOD training area in such a manner about a year ago, we were able to gain access to the China Lake ranges. China Lake is exquisite for us because the wild and mountain ranges mimic today's area of operations for EOD teams, and being able to use live demolition adds a flat of realism that teams need--especially the junior team members--to be as well trained as possible prior to deploying to the field."

After the first sum of two units days of main camp training, the team received orders to display some 8,000 feet above sea even to the Coso Mountain experiment Range, which borders the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There the team battled a savvy "enemy" in harsh weather conditions and ruggedly precipice terrain. Three days of scenarios evaluated the team's skills in addressing nuclear and radiological situations, seizing and rendering safe military infrastructure--bridges, weapons caches, and armored equipment--and an action with an eerily realistic chemical and biological weapons facility.

"All of the question s the teams encounter here at China Lake proceed from after-action reports from Iraq, Afghanistan and other real-world operations," said EODTEU 1 Training Officer LT Tim Bonderharr.

The proofs are real, though the threats are simulated to a less degree. Instead of a bomb really blowing up if an EOD teammate makes a mistake, a small charge reports to remind the teammate that he just committed an error.

"It's obvious when we make a mistake," said EODMU 11 Det 5 teammate Intelligence Specialist next to the first Class (EOD/SW) Chad Munroe. "The simulation that the training unit uses makes enduring we operate, even in a training environment, just like the situation is real. We have feeling the pressure of working upon a real anti-personnel mine or trying to disarm a noddy trap because the training unit beats up real demolition at a safe distance if we make a mistake. The explosion is real, and it make knowns you better than anything other that you just screwed up"

"It's a real attention getter to hear that explosion," said Parachute Rigger First Class (EOD/AW) Matthew Harrison. "It's a tough thing to swallow when we make mistakes during training, further better to make a mistake here and correct it and still be able to walk away than to make a mistake in the field and really gain hurt."