About 11 EOD Regiment RLC

11 EOD Regiment RLC is the British Army’s specialist unit responsible for counter terrorist bomb disposal and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), the recovery and safe disposal of conventional munitions.

Since 2003, 11 EOD Regiment has been constantly deployed at 25% strength in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, dealing with upwards of 40 IEDs a day. IEDs are usually (but not always) fabricated from non-military components, incorporating destructive, noxious, pyrotechnic or incendiary chemicals, and are designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass or kill.

Simultaneously with its work overseas, 11 EOD is on-call 24-hours a day, providing protection across the whole of the UK. The only other Army unit with this duty is 22 SAS.

In 2010, the Regiment undertook approximately 3000 tasks in the UK, of which 1000 involved improvised explosive devices, and 2000 were conventional munition disposal tasks.

Bomb Disposal Experts often put their lives at additional risk in order to dismantle bombs and recover the components for forensic analysis. This means the perpetrators responsible for constructing and positioning the IEDs, and the networks supplying the materials, can be stopped and brought to justice. Personnel from many other Army units directly assist in bomb disposal work: they include  ECM operator’s from The Royal Corps of Signals, dog handlers from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, searchers from the RLC Pioneers and Royal Engineers, plus weapons intelligence specialists from the Royal Military Police.

With 454 honours, medals and awards, 11 EOD Regiment RLC (and its former incarnations) is the most decorated unit in the British Army.

Curiously, bomb disposal experts receive ‘non-operational’ awards as their work is not deemed ‘in the presence of the enemy’. Hence 11 EOD’s SSgt Kim Hughes won a George Cross, not the Victoria Cross awarded to infantryman LCpl Johnson Beharry. However, both medals are Level 1 awards, reflecting the 95-100% expected probability of their own death during their astonishingly brave actions.

It takes at least 7 years of training to become an ATO or AT, and even longer to gain the skills required for high-threat tasks in Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

Soldiers across the army often refer to all bomb disposal experts as ATOs (Ammunition Technical Officers). However, the trade contains both officers and non-commissioned Ammunition Technicians, or ‘Ammo Techs’.

Twenty-nine operators have lost their lives carrying out EOD duties since 1971: 22 in Northern Ireland, 1 in Iraq, 6 in Afghanistan.

The number of lives saved by bomb disposal experts is incalculable.