Source: United States Navy
KEFLAVIK, Iceland – Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8 operated alongside 17 NATO ally and partner nations during Exercise Northern Challenge 2024, Sept. 26-Oct. 9, 2024. Northern Challenge demonstrates the United States’ commitment to NATO allies and partners by integrating efforts to plan and execute complex EOD detection, neutralization, and exploitation capabilities within a multinational framework.
Northern Challenge is an annual, joint-funded multinational exercise hosted by the Icelandic Coast Guard aimed at preparing NATO allies and partners for international deployments to clear the way for lethal, resilient forces to operate in contested environments and disrupt our adversaries in conflict.
EODMU 8, assigned to Commander, Task Force (CTF) 68, trained alongside tactical units from U.S. Marine Corps’ 8th Engineer Support Battalion and U.S. Army’s 702nd and 720th Ordinance Companies . Additional participating NATO allies and partners included Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and United Kingdom.
Northern Challenge 2024 included roughly 330 participants, 500+ improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 380 land tasks, and 120 maritime tasks. Throughout the exercise, two teams from EODMU 8 completed 50 training serials and provided four exercise control members who assessed and mentored other nations’ teams. During the exercise, EOD technicians responded to simulated IEDs threats of increasing complexity over a two-week period.
“At Northern Challenge 2024, we’re working with our NATO allies and partners learning different tools for the toolbox and increasing our lethality on the battlefield,” said Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Jake Ferguson, platoon 8-2-2 Leading Chief Petty Officer, EODMU 8. “We’ve had some awesome training put on by our Icelandic and British partners; we’ve done a lot of both maritime and land-based IED serials that we’ve been able to defeat. We’re also turning in evidence, working with the exploitation cell to develop counter-IED tactics and reporting procedures.”
In addition to conducting complex training scenarios, EOD technicians from across participating countries collaborated within a multinational exploitation center to enhance interoperability at the operational level. These cells ensured that EOD teams were organized to effectively counter IED threats while ensuring the intelligence analysis and information sharing is in accordance with NATO standards and procedures.
The exploitation cell was comprised of the Technical Exploitation Coordination Cell (TECC) and the Combined Exploitation Laboratory (CEL). The TECC and CEL fuse capacities and capabilities across a joint interagency multinational structure. This multinational effort provided high-level analysis of collected exploitable material (CEM), refining fidelity of the operating area and providing critical information to the operator on the ground or in the water.
CEM in the lab consisted of a full scope of exploitation methods such as triage, x-ray, chemical analysis, biometrics, forensics, electronics engineering exploitation, and document and media exploitation.
The end state of the analysis is to inform the command, provide enhanced operator threat assessment on the battlefield, and ultimately deny the adversary anonymity.
U.S. Navy EOD technicians from Expeditionary Exploitation Unit One (EXU-1) led the CEL in coordination with personnel from U.S. Army Force Europe (USAREUR) and other allies and partners. Their mission throughout the exercise was to assist in processing and analyzing exploitable material collected from simulated explosive threats, analyze and consolidate the findings, then brief the overall threat environment and an assessment of next 24-48 hours, providing a tactical picture for stronger decision-making on the ground and better situational awareness.
Lt. Ryan DuTot, an EOD officer assigned to EXU-1, served as the exercise’s Combined Exploitation Laboratory office in charge.
“Northern Challenge 2024 is not just about defusing bombs; it’s about harnessing cutting-edge technology to outsmart adversaries and strengthen global security alliances,” said DuTot. “The integration of technical exploitation into this exercise ensures we don’t just neutralize threats, but also gain critical intelligence from them. Any time we are working with partner nations in an environment like this, it’s a force multiplier that provides long-term strategic benefits.”
Operating in a range of environments and exchanging knowledge with regional NATO allies and partners enhances every participating unit’s readiness and relationships with international and interagency counterparts.
“Exercises like Northern Challenge provide an excellent opportunity to rehearse our IED defeat tactics in austere environments,” said Cmdr. John Kennedy, commander, EOD Mobile Unit 8. “The unique value of Northern Challenge is the exploitation piece. For our operational platoons, the drills didn’t end at ‘defeating the device’; they concluded after ‘exploiting the device’ so we could gain an appreciation of how the device works, and who employed it.”
Northern Challenge provided practical training to operators across the joint force, with the integration of the exploitation cell to enhance the intelligence picture driving the threat assessment. As a result, the United States military is better prepared to deploy EOD forces throughout the U.S. European Command’s area of responsibility in support of the collective defense of NATO allies.
“We’ve worked with the Canadians, Swedes, Icelanders, Polish, Lithuanians, and others; these guys are so good at their craft. Everybody here is a warrior, and they all volunteered to do the same job. Exchanging tactics, techniques, and procedures with them is making every single one of us better so that the enemy doesn’t get a leg up on us,” said Ferguson.
U.S. military participation in Northern Challenge 2024 demonstrates that U.S. and NATO joint forces are ready and postured with combat-credible capability to assure, deter, and defend in an increasingly complex security environment.
CTF 68 is a part of the U.S. 6th Fleet and commands all Naval Expeditionary Combat Forces, in U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility. Navy Expeditionary Combat Forces bridge the gap from sea to shore and provides expeditionary capabilities in remote, complex and austere environments.
EODGRU 2 and EODMU 8 operate as part of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and provide skilled, capable, and combat-ready deployable Navy EOD and Navy Diver forces around the globe to support a range of operations.
For the full collection of photos and news about Northern Challenge 2024 and U.S. Navy EOD, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/USNFE-6FPA and https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/EODG-2.