SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- The 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal flight hosted 14 teams from 10 partner nations for the 2025 Eifel Krabben Improvised Explosive Device Rodeo exercise at Spangdahlem Air Base, Aug. 15- 21, 2025.
The IED Rodeo is an annual, large-scale exercise that brings together more than 100 participants from NATO militaries and allied law enforcement agencies for a week of immersive training scenarios, strengthening interoperability and enhancing readiness for combined peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. This year, EOD technicians were charged with disarming IEDs in a variety of scenarios, including hidden ammo caches, trench clearing, and neutralizing an IED production facility.
“We have scenario training based on real-life events,” said Tech. Sgt. Nathan Davis, 52 CES EOD training non-commissioned officer in charge. “We research how a device we’ve encountered in the past worked, recreate it, and let teams respond to it during training.”
IEDs are built with anything available to the maker of the weapon, meaning explosives, wiring systems, and trigger mechanisms can be used differently every time. Therefore, training to handle and disarm IEDs prepares EOD technicians to respond to real-world situations.
“With EOD, there’s not one specific way to solve an issue. That, in and of itself, is a learning experience for us," said Davis. “Learning how to handle as many different types of incidents as possible gives us the best chance at successfully disarming IEDs we could encounter in a real-world situation. At the end of the operation when we evaluate, that’s our opportunity to discuss how we could have done it, or give feedback.”
Although each nation’s EOD team completes the scenarios independently, all participants have the opportunity to exchange tactics, techniques, and procedures, enabling technicians with diverse skills and specialties to share best practices and learn from one another.
“Everybody is doing it a little bit differently, because everybody has a different way, with a different mission to serve,” said Chief Police Commissioner Thomas Erfurth, German Federal Police EOD officer. “It’s interesting to see how when the circumstances change, how their tactics change.”
The yearly IED Rodeo continues to demonstrate the enduring commitment of NATO allies to strengthen partnerships, hone expertise, and prepare for tomorrow’s challenges as one team capable of meeting any threat together.