The 68th EOD WG Meeting
The 68th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Interservice Working Group (66th EODWG) was hosted by the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence (EOD COE), in the city of Bratislava, Slovakia, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel premises from 17th to 20th of March 2025. The event brought together more than 75 participants form 18 NATO nations (BEL, CAN, CZE, FRA, DEU, GRC, ISL, ITA, LVA, NLD, NOR, POL, SVK, ESP, SWE, TUR, GBR, USA), NATO Command Structures (JFC Brunssum, JFC Naples) and other NATO bodies (MILENG COE, C-IED COE, JCBRND COE, EOD TIC)
MG Miroslav Lorinc, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, had an introductory speech, highlighting the importance of NATO standardization efforts to achieve interoperability. The EODWG has been very efficient in developing EOD-related standards in close cooperation with other related areas of expertise.
COL Timothy GOULD, the chairperson of the EODWG, mentioned that the EOD does not operate within a vacuum and is a key supporting and enabling activity. It is imperative upon the SMEs to monitor, record and share the working occurring in other WGs in order to ensure that EOD thinking is in concert with that of the closest partner WGs, specifically the C-IED and MILENG WGs.
The meeting priorities were to progress with the development of the NATO standards from EOD WG portfolio (e.g. AEODP-06, AEODP-10, AEODP-05), to facilitate information sharing between the NATO nations, and to increase cooperation with other EOD-related working groups (e.g. MILENG, C-IED, JCBRND-CDG). Besides the normal updates, some of the current EOD challenges faced by NATO nations, command structures and force structures were discussed (e.g. EOD support to Ukraine today and in the future, CBRN EOD terminology, Explosive Ordnance Clearance (EOC) tasks).
Following the approved agenda, all the panels had fruitful discussions and debates. In the end, the chairman was able to report several improvements for EOD community of interest, which are essential for current and future NATO operations, e.g.:
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The comments for the standards under revision were adjudicated by custodians and WG members.
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For the support to Ukraine, the Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) from Bydgoszcz, Poland was introduced as a long-term solution.
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CBRN EOD terminology proposed by EOD COE was agreed by the WG members.
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Explosive Ordnance Clearance (EOC) minimum standards of proficiency will be re-defined with the support of MILENG community.
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The EOD COE will receive the custodianship for AEODP-08 Interservice Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear explosive ordnance disposal operations (CBRN EOD) on multinational deployments from BEL.
The EOD COE has a well-defined role in supporting the tasks of the EODWG by assuming the custodianship of AJP-3.18 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Support to Operations and, in the near future, AEODP-08 Interservice Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear explosive ordnance disposal operations (CBRN EOD) on multinational deployments and by being the EOD terminology representative in NATO. Besides that, the SMEs are also engaged in other EOD-related WGs (MILENG WG, C-IED WG, JCBRND-CDG, NTEG, AJOD WG, LO WG, CBRN EOD WG), being able to provide expertise advice from a broader perspective.
For this meeting the EOD COE’s SMEs brought their contribution to the Plenary and to all the panels. Some SMEs had some specific presentations related to the working group topics:
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LTC Alexander HUGYAR, the Head of Education and Training Department (ETD), introduced the EOD COE Training Facility and the training opportunities.
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MAJ Adrian PETER, the Head of Transformation Support Department, presented the outcomes of the 10th EOD Workshop, conducted in Samorin, Slovakia, 05-06 November 2024. He also presented the results of the analysis regarding the Explosive Ordnance Clearance (EOC) tasks in NATO operations.
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1LT David SLATKOVSKY, EOD Staff Officer in the Technology Department, provided updates regarding ETACS project.
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CIV Stefan SOPCAK, EOD Terminology Specialist, provided an update regarding CBRN EOD terminology (from NATO Terminology Office) and also introduced the work done so far for the revision of the most relevant terms by the SMEs from EOD COE and JCBRND COE during the CBNR EOD WG meetings.
COL Frantisek MIHALOVIC, the EOD COE Director, as the vice-chairperson of the EODWG, had an overview of all the panels and supported the work of the chairperson in establishing the way-ahead and the priorities for the next meetings. A stronger collaboration with other relevant working groups was identified as a faster and long-lasting solution to increase standardization.
The EOD COE’s efforts in organizing, hosting and supporting the work of the 68th EOD WG meeting was highly appreciated by all participants.
The 69th EODWG is going to be hosted in The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 10-14 November 2025. The aim of this meeting is to finalize the tasks from MCLSB for 2025 and to prepare the programme of Work for 2026.
The EOD COE will continue to support the EODWG with the same enthusiasm in order to achieve interoperability between NATO nations and partners.
Text: MAJ Adrian PETER (ROU-A)
Photos: EOD COE Archive
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