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Whiteman Airman shares deployment experience

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Dilia Ayala
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFNS) --  Smoke rose from the Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, explosives ordnance compound. It was the remnants of a 107mm rocket detonation.

Knocked nearly unconscious from the blast, Staff Sgt. Brandon Pfannenstiel tried to regain his footing and looked for his fellow EOD technician, Senior Airman Robert Wester. His ears were still ringing as he turned around to find Airman Wester directly behind him. Only seconds earlier, he and Airman Wester were in the process of analyzing the explosive ordnance they'd recovered earlier that morning.

"Help! Help! Help!" Airman Wester called out.

Sergeant Pfannenstiel ran to him, laying the injured Airman on the ground and beginning self-aid and buddy care.

As the dust settled, more than 10 EOD technicians ran to their aid. Combat lifesaver trained EOD Airmen took over care of Airman Wester as Sergeant Pfannenstiel tried to recover from the incident.

It's been more than a year since Sergeant Pfannenstiel's close encounter with death, yet the memory is far from foggy. He has since recovered from his injuries, but Jan. 3, 2009, is a day permanently etched in his mind, and forever changed his view of life and reinforcing his motivation for being an EOD technician.

"I definitely changed when I came back from that deployment," he said. "It made me stop and look at life differently. It's scary to think I was holding the item. At one point, we were both huddled over it. We both could have very easily been dead.

"God was looking over us," he said. "My mom's always had her church praying for me and my fellow Airmen while we were over there. I told them, 'All that praying over the last three deployments paid off.'"

Coming away with a greater appreciation for life, Sergeant Pfannenstiel said that was not the only thing he took from that day's happenings.

"I think my experience made me a better EOD (technician)," said the native of Midland, Texas. "When you're actually disarming an item, the adrenaline rush is unexplainable. You do things without thinking. You've trained so much for it, you just do it. You know that as a team member you have to keep each other alive. Your head is constantly on a swivel.

"Now, I also have a healthy level of paranoia," Sergeant Pfannenstiel said. "When I look at things, I analyze them even closer than I did before."

EOD technicians receive specific training on locating, identifying, disarming and disposing of all explosive ordnance and conducting intelligence gathering operations. In addition, Airmen in this specialty prepare and maintain EOD tools, equipment and vehicles, use advanced robotics, and train others in IED awareness.

Sergeant Pfannenstiel said he is ready and looking forward to deploying to Afghanistan when the opportunity arises to put his Air Force training and experience in practice.

"I love doing my job, countering IEDs and helping save the day," he said. "I'm ready to go to Afghanistan."

Given his close brush with death, many have asked the sergeant what keeps him motivated and willing to do his job.

"A lot of people ask me, 'Why do you still want to keep doing your job?' I tell them all the same thing," Sergeant Pfannenstiel said. "No matter what, I still love my job, even if I almost died.

"I will be more than happy to sacrifice my life, if it is just me, one person," he concluded. "If it prevents them access to America and bombing a mall that my wife is in or anyone for that matter, I will do it, if it will save all of their lives. That's why I keep going back -- To engage the enemy in their own area, not ours, and to keep them at bay."