Image Gallery 2010
10 December 2010
Navy Diver in Afghanstan
Blowing up unexploded ordnance and preparing equipment to disable IEDs may sound like unusual tasks for a Navy sailor, but for LSCD Michael Suckling, it’s just another day on the job.
For the last two months, LSCD Suckling ,28, has worked as part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team as an Explosive Ordnance Reconnaissance (EOR) operator in the Miribad Valley, Afghanistan.
“It’s part of a clearance diver’s job to do EOD. The right paths aligned for me to come to Tarin Kot, so here I am working with the team,” LSCD Suckling said.
LSCD Suckling has served in the RAN for 11 years. He said that he initially joined up as a Marine Technician and never envisaged that his career would lead him where it has.
“I have no regrets about changing category because I definitely prefer being a diver.
Life at sea can be challenging, but Afghanistan has the dust, extreme heat and cold to contend with.
“It’s just different to be working out in the elements like Army does. We’ve spent 12 days living out of a vehicle, eating ‘rat packs’ and sleeping on the ground. On some of those nights the temperature dropped below 0C.
“Because I’m Navy, I get to grow a beard, which helps when it’s cold, but it’s a sore talking point for the Army and Air Force guys that I work with.”
He said that he predominantly worked at patrol bases in the Miribad Valley and that when a patrol reported something suspicious; his role within the EOD team was to prepare tools and equipment for the EOD technicians, and blow up any unexploded ordnance or munitions found in caches or IEDs.
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