Ordnance Disposal Squad Member

Posted 11/11/2006

Lance Cpl. Tiago Soltes, a gunner for the explosive ordnance disposal squad of Security Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) relaxes and re-hydrates just moments before leaving base for another mission. When the EOD security squad gets a call, they respond in minutes. "You get a kind of adrenalin rush," said Soltes, 23 from Roselle, Ill., "you just have to keep your head in the game; you have to keep focused on everything and just go with the flow." Two EODs squads rotate on twenty-four hour shifts. During the shift, they train, eat, and rest all within the compound. When they receive the order, often everything else stops; all that matters is the mission ahead. They can react to a call at any time. Combat Logistics Battalion 5 is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq (MNF-W) to develop the Iraqi Security Forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic government reforms, and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi Reconstruction. USMC photo by: Lance Cpl. Geoffrey P. Ingersoll