EOD Airman diffuses situations in Iraq, at Spangdahlem

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  What began as a standard deployment for one Saber, turned into a year-long journey taking him to Forward Operation Base Kalsu, Camp Slayer and Camp Taji, Iraq.

Master Sgt. Ken Pettibone, 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron NCOIC of Explosive Ordnance Disposal operations, received orders to deploy to Iraq as the Weapons Intelligence Team chief, Team 14.

To prepare for this position, Sergeant Pettibone had to attend extensive training with the Army. The first training session occurred at Fort Sill, Okla., which provided four weeks of combat skills training. This was followed by six weeks of WIT specialized training at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., which focused on evidence collection, forensic biometrics, electronic forensics and team tactics.

While deployed, Sergeant Pettibone, and the other members of the WIT teams, used this training to collect evidence from improvised explosive devices and post blast scenes. The biometric evidence they gathered was used to capture insurgents, whether on a raid, or when they applied to work on base. While performing these duties, the team had to deal with frequent manning shortages and long hours.

"Although I was supposed to have five personnel on my team, for most of the deployment I had four personnel, and for part I had three," Sergeant Pettibone said.

"We mostly had two people on shift for 48 hours at a time," he said. "During that 48 hours, we would work on completing reports and other paperwork until we received a call. We always responded with EOD, my team worked with Army EOD the entire time. We would get anywhere from one to eight IED calls a day. The calls would be for a found IED, a weapons/bomb making facility or a post-blast site. Quite often, we would find a secondary or tertiary device at the post blast site."

The WIT teams faced losses of their own as well.

"It was hard to deal with the loss of my co-workers," Sergeant Pettibone said. "Our 15 WIT teams spent two and a half months going through pre-deployment training together. Out of the 74 people on our teams that operated outside the wire, three were killed and 12 were seriously injured.

"One week after we arrived at our bases, my friend, Master Sgt. Brad Clemons, an EOD, WIT team leader, was killed at Taji from an IED," he said. "We also lost Sgt. Keith Fiscus, a WIT Army gunner, from an IED and Capt. Kermit Evans, the EOD WIT executive officer, on a helicopter crash. An Army PFC, who worked as our gunner, was also killed. Quite a few Army personnel I worked with were killed or seriously injured. The Air Force Office of Special Investigation Agent on my team, Special Agent Scott View, was injured when an improvised landmine detonated about two feet from him. Luckily he wasn't seriously injured, just shaken up with multiple lacerations. That was a rough day."

Beyond coping with these losses, the WIT team members found simply surviving to be challenging at times.

"We had repeated detonations on the vehicles we were in and were also subjected to enemy gunfire more than a dozen times," he said.

Six months into his deployment, and six days from returning, Sergeant Pettibone and his WIT team was informed they were being extended for another six months.

"From the 15 WIT teams, three were extended," he said.

This news came as a surprise to Sergeant Pettibone and his family.

"We were understandably upset," he said. "It's completely different from those who deploy for 365; they expect it. My family has been through this before. I was extended at Prince Sultan Air Base. I understood the need for additional teams for the push into Baghdad, and saw some of the results of the push at the end of my deployment."

These results included life saving changes to procedures.

"As part of our mission, we evaluated enemy and coalition force's Tactics, Techniques and Procedures," Sergeant Pettibone said. "I developed a system to get the information to the brigade intelligence and operations personnel soon after returning from an operation. Many of our suggested changes to friendly TTPs and suggestions to thwart enemy TTPs were taken to heart by the brigade we supported, saving many lives."

While Sergeant Pettibone and his team worked hard to save lives, he is happy to be home.

"I have many good memories," he said. "I worked with some outstanding Airmen and Soldiers, and will never lose the respect I have for them. However, the best memory has to be seeing my family upon my return."

Shortly after his return, he was part of a team call to respond to a possible vehicle threat. 

"We were called out on a suspect vehicle at the main gate shortly after my return," he said. "After finding nothing with our robotics, I proceeded down to the car in a bomb suit to do a detailed search. It was interesting that just days after my comp time off, I was back in the IED mode. However, the lack of shooting and presence of a local news station filming my progress clarified the difference between the two locations. We all have to be prepared to deal with terrorist activities, no matter where we are in the world."