U.S. Navy Sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit 8 conducted a Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) certification training event with Croatian Mine Clearance Diving Platoon in Split, Croatia from February 15 to March 5, the U.S. Navy announced.
The training involved a wide array of EOD skills, including demolition procedures and criteria used to identify safely, transport, and dispose of conventional unexploded ordnance.
The U.S. Navy personnel are participating with an emphasis on EOD operations and interoperability training in Croatia’s relevant environments.
Mine warfare is an ever-present threat that disrupts maritime security globally, and nations around the world are working together to identify and neutralize these underwater threats quickly. Harbor and beach clearance are critical components of the Navy’s mine countermeasures (MCM) mission; the exercise’s maritime improvised explosive device (M-IED) and underwater mine scenarios are proving grounds for the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and EOD diving units.
The UUV missions and follow-on EOD dives give commanders a better picture of where landing forces should be employed and what kind of threats allied forces need to neutralize.
Sailors can deploy UUVs to detect, locate, identify and capture images of undersea threats without risking a loss of life. Increasing technologies on sensors and the user interface give mission commanders more options and adjust parameters on the go through communication interfaces.
The unit took every precaution, following Croatian health protocols, to ensure our Sailors’ health and safety, along with our NATO Allies, while remaining operationally ready.
The Sailors followed strict COVID-19 mitigation measures in congruence with CDC guidelines to include movement restriction before travel, mask-wearing, social distancing as training allowed, and taking multiple COVID-19 tests.
The U.S. Navy routinely engages in complex military training and exercises to ensure we are prepared to fight alongside our NATO Allies and partners.
