Description
Identify, render safe, and dispose of unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices, and hazardous munitions on land or underwater. Conduct risk assessments, establish safety perimeters, employ robotics and specialty tools, execute controlled detonations, manage evidence, and complete reports in compliance with laws and SOPs.
- • Assess scenes and ordnance to determine hazards and render-safe options; ensure compliance with safety laws and SOPs.
- • Plan initiation systems and timing for remote or controlled detonations.
- • Establish cordons, evacuations, and exclusion zones; brief personnel on safety.
- • Place countercharges or disruptors to neutralize or dispose of ordnance.
- • Prepare and configure explosive tools (shaped charges, water disruptors) per render-safe procedures.
- • Mark and log ordnance locations, fuzing, and orientation for team reference.
- • Maintain explosives accountability, usage logs, and incident documentation per policy.
- • Measure standoff, depth, and burial of UXO using probes and detection tools.
- • Rig firing circuits, shock tube, or wireless initiators; install protective shielding.
- • Route shock tube or primacord to initiate charges in planned sequence.
- • Deploy robots, X-ray systems, disruptors, and protective barriers.
- • Verify neutralization results; conduct post-blast sweeps and record outcomes.
- • Transport, store, and secure explosives, initiators, and recovered ordnance per safety procedures.
- • Activate remote firing devices or disruptors following checklists.
- • Operate response vehicles and trailers to incident sites and ranges.
- • Cut and crimp detonation systems; install boosters and primers as required.
- • Monitor and reorder EOD tools, PPE, and consumables to sustain readiness.
- • Inspect, calibrate, and maintain robots, X-ray units, disruptors, and communications gear.
- • Establish incident communications; operate radios and data links to coordinate operations.
- • Seal and waterproof disruptors and firing lines for maritime or wet operations.
- • Clean, function-check, and service disruptors and launchers after use.
- • Conduct subsurface or confined-space EOD using borescopes, probes, and hoists as needed.
- • Develop render-safe and disposal plans, including diagrams and step-by-step procedures.
- • Document device components, photos, and site conditions; preserve evidence and chain of custody.
- • Use blowers, vacuums, or water jets to expose or access buried ordnance.
- • Set up shields, hoists, sandbags, and other mitigation equipment for safe operations.
- • Coordinate with incident command, law enforcement, K9 teams, and utility crews during EOD operations.
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
