The longest walk...home

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La., May 17, 2012 — Nearly one year ago I wrote an article, titled A National Day for EOD, detailing how the 111th U.S. Congress had passed a resolution declaring the first Saturday in May as National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Day to honor those who serve and have served in the noble and self-sacrificing profession of Explosive Ordnance Disposal in the U.S. Armed Forces. What I didn't know at the time was my opening paragraph would turn from hypothetical to reality in an instant. The original article opened with:

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles depart "the wire" en-route to a nine-line Improvised Explosive Device call. The Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle tucked in behind a security element provided by the supported Army battalion. Unbeknownst to the vehicle crewmen, a violent extremist lies in wait, his hand holding two wires above a motorcycle battery. As the convoy passes the target location, the extremist touches the wire to the battery and the JERRV disappears in a cloud of dust, smoke and fire. Though fictional in nature, it's a scenario that has played out all too often in the Allied Forces Central Europe area of operations.

On Jan. 5, at approximately 4 p.m. local time in Afghanistan, the above scenario turned into reality, just south of a former insurgent stronghold called Musa Qal'ah in Helmand province. As Team 5, call sign "Tripwire," maneuvered north on a deliberate route clearance mission to secure the freedom of movement for Coalition Forces and Afghan citizens, its vehicle was targeted by a massive underbelly improvised explosive device. The explosion, larger than we had previously seen in this area of operations, was such that the 26-ton JERRV MRAP was propelled 10 feet vertically and 20 feet to the left, finally coming to rest on a fortified mud wall. The three occupants, all Air Force EOD personnel, were fatally wounded the instant the blast struck the vehicle. Lost in that cowardly attack on our team was Tech. Sgt. Matt Schwartz from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., Airman 1st Class Matt Seidler from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., and Barksdale's very own Senior Airman Bryan Bell. This incident marked the first time the Air Force EOD program lost three personnel in a single, mounted scenario, and the first time three U.S. EOD personnel were lost in a single, mounted, MRAP vehicle incident. It also marks only the second time in history that three Air Force EOD personnel were lost in any single incident, following the loss of "Team Lima" by a vehicle-borne IED in Baghdad on Jan. 7, 2007.

On May 5, four months to the date we lost 'Tripwire,' the 43rd Annual EOD Memorial and Ball was held at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. This year, 17 new names were added to the bronze tablets on the EOD Memorial including five soldiers, five Marines, three sailors, and four Airmen. This brings the total number immortalized there to an astonishing 286, 32 of whom represent the Air Force. 'Tripwire's' Seidler was the lowest ranking Air Force EOD member killed in combat operations. The ceremony was a solemn occasion to honor the sacrifice of those lost warriors and a chance to celebrate their lives devoted to a cause greater than their own.

I wrote a tribute to our fallen heroes that was read at Bell's memorial here on Jan. 20 that shares the same title of this article. That tribute can now be read at the EOD Memorial Organization's web site at http://www.eodmemorial.org. Since then, many have asked me about the origin of the phrase "The Longest Walk." Originally coined by British Bomb Disposal experts in Northern Ireland, The Longest Walk symbolizes the point in an EOD operation where the team leader must inevitably act solo, perhaps donning the 80-pound bomb protective suit and making the treacherous, lonely approach to the point of hazard, whether an unexploded ordnance item or an IED. Over the past several decades, since the inception of the U.S. Bomb Disposal program following the German Blitz upon England in 1940, thousands have made The Longest Walk and returned to tell the tales of their actions. Sadly, several hundred have not returned. They have gone "home" to reside among the other fallen heroes.

In marking this sacred day for EOD personnel past and present, Reverend Carl Bergstrom wrote in his EOD prayer, "Bless those who have been set apart by this hazardous duty, and give support to their families and loved ones who wait through each tense call. Receive into eternal rest those who have given their lives and bring healing to those who mourn."

Our fallen heroes may have departed us, but their memories will live on in us for an eternity. As we continue to remember their families and friends, and hope the pain of their loss will somehow recede, please continue to remember those teammates of theirs who remain in harm's way. They continue the mission while solidifying the values that their sacrifice was not in vain. These warriors will no doubt make The Longest Walk yet again. President Woodrow Wilson stated it best when he said, "When men take up arms to set other men free, there is something sacred and holy in the warfare."