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EOD superintendent reflects on years of service

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Maeson L. Elleman
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Standing in the middle of an Iraqi street in his bomb suit with his security detail at his side, Sergeant Beebe gazed at the crowd amassing near the buildings. But as he turned his focus from the people, he noticed a clicking and buzzing sound that began to grow louder.

Though the robot didn't find any improvised explosive devices on its initial search of the area, and the detail thought it was just a bug buzzing nearby, the technician knew something just wasn't right.

After little hesitation, they began sprinting back toward the convoy, alerting the bomb team who decided to send the robot back down-range to find what had spooked them.

As the robot reached the spot where the men were standing just seconds earlier, an explosion ripped the 400-pound machine to pieces.

That moment during his 2005 deployment will be forever etched into the mind of Master Sgt. John Beebe, now Kadena's 18th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal superintendent.

And after recently receiving his third Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in Afghanistan earlier this year, the now 20-year Marine Corps and Air Force veteran looked back on the hard deployments, friends lost, the good times, and the more than 40 countries visited.

"You can't go through what we've gone through and not change," he said. "I don't really know how I've changed, but I know I have. But I love my job and I'd never change what I do."

Sergeant Beebe recalls what changed his career path from a Marine Corps infantryman to the Air Force EOD tech he is today.

"I was in the infantry on an explosives team, a "breachers" team, at that time," he spoke of his first on-ship training deployment to South America.

Sergeant Beebe said an explosion caused by an unknown source occurred during the training, killing a local child. After searching nearby, a second unexploded device was located, but with no EOD team nearby, the unit had to improvise.

"Nobody had training and nobody knew how to take care of UXOs, but since we had the explosives, we went up and placed what we had next to the stuff, and hopefully it prevented some other kids from getting killed out there," he continued. "That really changed the way I looked at things and that's what got me interested in EOD."

EOD is one of the most dangerous career fields in the military. Though he has never lost anyone on his team while he was acting as team leader, Sergeant Beebe said it's such a small career field, everyone in it knows each other, so every time someone gets killed it affects the whole EOD community.

"I've lost a lot of friends," said Sergeant Beebe. "The hardest part is losing somebody. You don't know who you're going to lose or the effects it will have on their families. It hurts. You look at life a little differently."

Lt. Col. James Greene, 18th CES commander, said Sergeant Beebe's experience in the field has made him vital in preparing other Airmen for deployments and an indispensable member of the EOD team.

"Master Sgt. Beebe has demonstrated unparalleled leadership during numerous combat deployments, as a Silver Flag training instructor, and now here in the 18 CES EOD Flight," added Colonel Greene.

Though the nature of EOD is to save lives by dismantling IEDs like the one that almost claimed his own, Sergeant Beebe says his job's no more important for the mission than any other.

"There is no 'most important' job," he said. "We're just a part of it. We help make it safer for the others who have a more difficult job than what we do."