NATO MUltimedia

”It’s actually like wearing two wet blankets, sitting in a sauna for half an hour.” Find out what it’s like to defuse bombs in a 40kg+ bomb suit.

Interview with explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician Xavier Dedeckere of the Belgian Navy about what it’s like to wear and work in a 40kg+ bomb suit during exercise Northern Challenge 2018 in Keflavík, Iceland.

Northern Challenge 2018 consisted of 16 NATO nations, with more than 300 personnel operating in and around Keflavík Air Base in Iceland. The training dealing with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) involved both maritime and land-based operations.
Footage of EOD technician wearing bomb suit to defuse simulated IEDs.

VISUAL DESCRIPTION

Putting on bomb suit.

Slow motion shot of bomb suit.


TEXT - Xavier Dedeckere, EOD technician, Belgian Navy


Walking slowly with bomb suit.

Defusing simulated IED.

EOD robot.

EOD operators looking at EOD robot monitors.

TEXT ON SCREEN –
IMPROVISED
EXPLOSIVE
DEVICE

TEXT ON SCREEN

NATO EOD TECHNICIANS TRAIN TOGETHER REGULARLY

TO DEFUSE A WIDE VARIETY OF BOMBS

EOD robot console.

Xavier taking off helmet.








END
AUDIO DESCRIPTION







SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH
Xavier Dedeckere, EOD technician, Belgian Navy

“If you wear this suit, it’s actually like wearing two wet blankets, sitting in a sauna for half an hour.
You get quite sweaty if you have to do something, because of the weight. I think it’s around 40 kilos.

You can’t go to an IED with emotion or a mind that is not focused on the job. What is the next step? What is the step after the next step? You have to think forward.

You never know what you’re going to find over there. You can send in a robot to see what you’re going to find. But not everything is actually visible for us.








This is a wonderful exercise because you see other nations working on the same targets, on the same IEDs and you see different work methods. So it opens actually your mind of thinking.

And then you take off your helmet and it’s so refreshing.”

END