Explosive Ordnance Disposal first sergeant earns U.S. Particular Operations Command award | Article

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – The senior enlisted chief for the U.S. Army’s solely Explosive Ordnance Disposal firm that helps the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment earned the U.S. Special Forces Command Excalibur Award for NCO Management.

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Chad O. Staples from the twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD) (Airborne) was acknowledged for his service and management on the one-of-a-kind firm.

The SOCOM commander established the Excalibur Award of Excellence to acknowledge enlisted leaders who reveal the “warrior ethos” with excellent management, gallantry, integrity and ethical braveness throughout navy operations or coaching.

Sgt. Maj. Shane W. Shorter, the U.S. Special Forces Command senior enlisted advisor, serves because the president of the Excalibur Award Board and the senior enlisted advisors from every of the SOCOM service elements vote on the award.

The EOD first sergeant obtained the 2021 Excalibur Award in 2022 as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

Staples earned the award for heroism throughout a compound clearance operation in Afghanistan. After an improvised explosive system (IED) detonated, he disregarded his personal accidents to clear a secure path for 13 wounded U.S. and companion nation personnel. Through the mission, Staples additionally recognized three extra pressure-plate IEDs and supplied first help to the wounded.

Maj. Stephen M. Knudsen, the commander of the twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD) (Airborne), stated it was a testomony to Staples that SOCOM chosen a noncommissioned officer from U.S. Army Forces Command and twentieth CBRNE Command for the award.

“The corporate has arms down the very best NCOs I’ve ever labored with,” stated Knudsen, a local of Sutter Creek, California. “First Sgt. Staples shouldn’t be solely the corporate’s senior enlisted chief, he’s additionally an exceptional instance of the next-level management, mastery of craft and readiness to take the combat to the enemy that you simply see in each single NCO on this unit.”

Knudsen has identified Staples since they have been college students on the EOD college greater than 12 years in the past when Knudsen was a 1st lieutenant and Staples was a sergeant.

“It was obvious then that he has a particular, innate management high quality about him and it’s paid large dividends throughout his time as a pacesetter in any respect ranges within the twenty eighth,” stated Knudsen.

“In a unit that has had parts deployed in fight for everything of its existence, the NCO leaders aren’t simply the spine of the unit however the usual bearers who guarantee all the crew is prepared for struggle at a second’s discover,” stated Knudsen. “They supply motivation that retains EOD techs shifting ahead to the sound of the weapons. I’ve by no means seen Troopers with extra loyalty and belief within the first sergeant and it’s one hundred pc well-placed.”

A graduate of Cal Poly who has deployed to Iraq as soon as and Afghanistan thrice, Knudsen went to EOD college straight out of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Officer Fundamental Course. He stated serving because the twenty eighth EOD Firm commander has been the spotlight of his profession.

“I take pleasure in working in dynamic environments and in a tradition that locations emphasis on downside fixing and artistic pondering,” stated Knudsen. “I can’t consider one other place within the Army that embraces these traits greater than EOD. I can’t single out a second in twenty eighth as a spotlight – they arrive each week. Simply being within the constructing with these unimaginable NCOs is spotlight sufficient. I already know I’m in the very best job I’ll ever have.”

The Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based twenty eighth EOD Firm (Airborne) is a part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and twentieth Chemical, Organic, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. navy’s premier all hazards command.

American Troopers and U.S. Army civilians from twentieth CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to tackle the world’s most harmful hazards in help of joint, interagency and allied operations.

Staples initially enlisted as a Chemical, Organic, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialist with the Utah Nationwide Guard and served a Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment crew chief within the nineteenth Special Forces Group (Airborne).

He determined to develop into an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician and joined the active-duty U.S. Army in 2008.

“I’ve all the time had a want to serve my nation within the navy however made the choice to go energetic as an EOD technician after speaking to an Air Pressure EOD technician from Hill Air Pressure Base in Utah,” stated Staples, a local of Riverton, Utah, who has deployed to Afghanistan eight occasions. “I felt that the 89D Navy Occupation Specialty (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) could be technically demanding and fill a vital tactical position inside the World Struggle on Terror.”

Staples spent his first deployment to Afghanistan in a standard EOD firm the place he took images and made assessments throughout IED post-blast evaluation missions. Previous to becoming a member of the twenty eighth EOD Firm, he served with the 703rd EOD Firm on Fort Knox, Kentucky, and the 759th EOD Firm on Fort Irwin, California.

After being concerned in a number of IED detonations and seeing the deaths of many coalition personnel and the destruction of many autos, Staples needed to affix an EOD firm that was famend for its professionalism and its potential to take the combat to the enemy.

Staples has served with the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based twenty eighth EOD Firm for nearly eight years.

“The twenty eighth operates in a difficult, high-performance surroundings that calls for persistently excessive requirements. twenty eighth EOD techs all the time function in demanding roles whereas embedded with seventy fifth Ranger Regiment. They’re all particularly screened for a place inside the firm primarily based on their potential to assume critically whereas embroiled in life-or-death conditions,” stated Staples.

Constructed to help U.S. Army Rangers and different SOCOM models, the twenty eighth EOD Firm has quietly earned quite a few awards throughout many years of fight operations. The unit’s EOD technicians have efficiently performed greater than 5,200 operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan so far. Through the World Struggle on Terrorism, twenty eighth EOD Firm Troopers have earned 32 valorous awards, together with two Distinguished Service Crosses and 21 Purple Hearts.

The twenty eighth EOD Firm first sergeant stated his EOD techs should have the ability to assume on their ft and reply to ever-changing circumstances within the crucible of fight.

“As a pacesetter, it’s essential to help all personnel in rising already specified traits,” stated Staples, who added that he hopes to develop into an EOD Group command sergeant main sooner or later. “Probably the most vital areas to proceed the constant particular person and crew success is a decentralized command. Performed proper, it could promote initiative and creativity.”

Staples stated there have been many highlights to incomes the distinguished SOCOM management award.

“Firstly, it highlighted the extraordinarily dynamic and harmful mission set that everybody within the firm is tasked with,” stated Staples. “There’s all the time an charisma to the twenty eighth EOD Firm as a result of categorized nature of the mission set. This allowed typical EOD an opportunity to see and listen to a small snip of what everybody within the firm is able to engaging in any time they’re tasked.

“Together with showcasing the corporate, the chance for my household to attend the award ceremony was paramount,” stated Staples. “Time and time once more my spouse and kids have watched me depart, by no means understanding the place I used to be going or what the missions entailed. They’ve been and all the time would be the basis of who I’m and why I serve within the navy.”