NATIONAL EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE
DISPOSAL ASSOCIATION

This History of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) is a work in progress. We will be very grateful to anyone who wishes to contribute to this history. It is intended that there will be a general history of Bomb Disposal and EOD services, and a separate section for the history of Bomb Disposal and EOD in each of the military services.

The History of United States Military Bomb Disposal Services

Necessity led to the development of bomb disposal services in the United States military. Prior to World War II, there was little need for such services. When an item containing explosives did not function as designed, it was a reasonably safe procedure to pick it up and transport it to a disposal area for destruction. As World War II began, it became obvious that while "pick up and carry away" was still a safe method for most items, newer generations of explosive items required more careful and varied methods to effect their rendering safe and disposal. Those who employed explosive items found that it was to their advantage to incorporate long delay and anti-removal devices. If a bomb was dropped and exploded, the area could quickly be repaired, services restored, and the incident would be over. If, however, a bomb was dropped and failed to explode, it could contain a delay or anti-removal fuze or device and be ready to function after a preset time period or when disturbed. This meant that the area must remain evacuated and could not be restored until the bomb was investigated, rendered safe, and removed. Depending on the number of unexploded bombs present in an area, and considering the need to establish priorities for disposal, sites that had been evacuated and all activity stopped could remain unusable for months. To reduce the disruption caused by the presence of unexploded bombs, our military services began to train and deploy bomb disposal personnel and units throughout the world. The organization and training of US units were based on the hard experiences and the blood shed by our bomb disposal brothers in England. They were the first to face and devise the means for dealing with hazardous unexploded ordnance. Of about 3000 British bomb disposal officers who volunteered and were trained for this task, only 800 remained alive at the end of the war.

Throughout the history of bomb disposal, later called explosive ordnance disposal or EOD, the development of an effective unit organization has been a problem. This is because the areas and conditions under which EOD missions must be performed vary widely. The Navy may face anti-swimmer ship protection missions, beach clearing operations, shipboard munitions accidents, and disposal of munitions on or near naval bases. Navy EOD personnel not only need to be proficient in the rendering safe and disposal of explosive items, but must be qualified divers and dispose of explosive items that are in various depths of water. The Air Force has a wide variety of explosive items, and the amounts and types on different air bases can be unique. The Marine Corps must handle the explosive items encountered during its military operations, on its bases, and while performing range clearance operations on the bases of other services. The Army has a myriad of missions, and covers most operations on the land mass of the United States and in foreign countries. All services must be qualified to render safe and dispose of items that are explosive, chemical, incendiary, pyrotechnic, nuclear, and biological in nature.

At the beginning of bomb disposal services in the 1940's, bomb disposal personnel and units were assigned and deployed in a somewhat reactive way. Studies were made of bomb disposal training, missions, tools and equipment. Both the Navy and the Army sent study groups to England and used that experience to begin organizing the US effort. US bomb disposal organization was based on the model that had been so successful in England, where most of the areas of operation were urban. To fit that model, larger units such as companies were formed. This proved to be wasteful of manpower, and units were later deployed as bomb disposal squads. The Navy was torn between having bomb disposal personnel parceled out to ships as individuals or centralized as units on larger ships and bases. The Marine Corps organized EOD platoons, but this led to the concentration of personnel in a few widely dispersed areas that made it difficult to use them efficiently. Often, Marine Corps operations had to draw on Navy or Army bomb disposal personnel to support its tactical formations because no Marine Corps units were deployed nearby. The US Army Air Corps activated the 8th US Army Air Force in England during World War II. To those in command, it quickly became apparent that bomb disposal units were necessary to protect its many air bases. They became leaders in the training of bomb disposal personnel overseas, and even sent some of their trained personnel to support the 12th US Army Air Force in North Africa. This training was conducted with the assistance of the British and was directed by Colonel Phillip Swartz, the 8th US Army Air Force Ordnance Officer.