EGLIN AFB — As the military’s demand for technicians specialized in locating and defusing improvised bombs has increased since 9/11, so have the demands on the country’s only schoolhouse for training them.

The Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal has long outgrown its three main buildings at Eglin Air Force Base.

In 2001, the school trained about 600 students a year. That number increased steadily until 2009, when the use of improvised explosives against the United States spiked.

Master Sgt. Christopher Stowe knows the smell of death, and he knows what it feels like to have the weight of a fellow Marine’s severed limb in his hands.

The explosive ordnance disposal technician, attached to EOD Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., said he began to struggle with the realities of war after a particularly difficult deployment to Iraq in 2006.

Marine Staff Sgt. Bernard Coyne, a Woonsocket native and Bronze Star recipient, was recently honored for his heroic actions in Afghanistan and awarded the Spirit of Freedom Award at the 2012 United Service Organization (USO) Salute to Freedom Gala in Raleigh, N.C The gala, held on Oct. 27, recognized six service members.
Audricia D. McKinney, spokesperson of the USO of North Carolina, said the USO recognized Coyne, an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) technician with Headquarters Squadron, because he represents the core values of the USO of North Carolina. “Staff Sgt. Coyne received the Salute to Freedom award because of his dedication to service and his country,” McKinney said. “He repeatedly placed the safety of his fellow Marines first and foremost.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - He remembers everything: warning his fellow Marines, the explosion, the dust cloud, flying through the air upside down and the sight of his legs, torn off above his knees.

“It didn’t hurt, but I knew I was in pretty rough shape,” said retired Staff Sgt. Brad M. Lang, who was a technician with 2nd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, when he reported to the scene of his last improvised explosive device in Afghanistan July 24, 2011.