The Vanderbilt University Naval ROTC hosted a weekend explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and Navy diver seminar for more than 40 midshipmen from NROTC units around the country on the Vanderbilt campus, Nov. 4-6.

Vanderbilt's inaugural NROTC "EOD Exceptional Exposure" weekend allowed midshipmen interested in being an EOD officer an opportunity to observe many of the various aspects of EOD and Navy diving.

"Exceptional exposure is a play on words from the Navy Dive Manual," said Cmdr. Sam Brasfield, assistant professor of naval science (PNS) and executive officer of the Vanderbilt NROTC unit. "Any time you exceed the limits in the Navy Dive Manual, it is called an exceptional exposure dive, and to conduct an exceptional exposure dive you have to get permission from higher up. So, we got permission [and] got these midshipmen some exceptional exposure to the EOD community."

Brasfield is one of two EOD officers in the country who are also naval science instructors (NSIs) at NROTC units. The other is Lt. Abe Kim, a NSI at the University of Colorado-Boulder, who also attended the weekend. Brasfield said the weekend was designed as an educational investment for interested midshipmen who signed up and journeyed to Music City, to set expectations and be exposed to the EOD and Navy diving community. He accomplished this by inviting current EOD officers and enlisted members from a shore detachment, an operational unit on the east coast, and Navy schools in the community. Many of them came from Panama City, Florida, the well-known hub of the EOD and Navy diving.

"This was probably the most beneficial experience I've ever had during my time with my NROTC unit," said Midshipman 2nd Class Connor McKeehan, from Batavia, Illinois, and a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "This was an absolute firehouse of information that I really, really wanted that you don't normally have access."

Like many of his fellow midshipmen attending the weekend seminar, McKeehan wants to be an EOD officer. He credited Brasfield for reaching out to the EOD community and bringing personnel and equipment to Vanderbilt to expose them to not just the EOD community, but also to Navy diving and salvage. EOD officers are the unrestricted line officers who oversee diving and salvage.

"It was unbelievable; literally, every mission that EOD can do was represented during the weekend," said McKeehan. "It was an incredible experience to hear from all of them about what they do in the Navy."

During the weekend, Brasfield's goal was to expose the midshipmen to all aspects of his community, one of the smallest in the Navy. The in-depth exposure included pool and land physical fitness training; and a look at, as well as hands-on training with EOD equipment such as the Mark 2 Talon Bomb Disposal Robot, handling a CEIA Version 2 Mine Detector, donning a EOD 9 Bomb Suit, and setting up a hook and line kit for moving explosive hazards.

"This was a really good chance to get to know a lot of the people who work in the community," said Midshipman 2nd Class Maddie Hoffman, from Wilton, Connecticut, and a junior at Vanderbilt.

"I also really like that I was able to meet other midshipmen who are interested in the field, because it is such a small community," Hoffman added. "The opportunities aren't always there to see or meet others in this community, [or] other midshipmen interested in being part of this community. Being part of this weekend and being able to expand the network meeting and listening to others currently in the EOD and Navy diving community, and meeting other midshipmen interested in being part of this community is very rewarding to me."

The midshipmen who attended the EOD Exceptional Exposure weekend were also exposed to numerous briefs on the history of the community, the officer-in-charge and chief petty officer relationship, and briefs on Navy diving.

Brasfield and his staff also scheduled the midshipmen to take the Physical Screening Test (PST) all EOD candidates must take before entering the community. The PST, held in the Vanderbilt University Recreation Center included a timed swim test, push-ups, curl-ups, pull-ups, and a timed 1 1/2-mile run. Brasfield said it was to show the midshipmen what they would need to work on or be expected to meet if they wanted to be part of the community.

"The PST was not a screener or an evaluation," Brasfield said. "The PST scores did not count toward service assignment, but [were] to show them what will be expected of them to join the community."

An EOD officer accessions and summer cruise application discussions were also made available to the midshipmen.

Brasfield invited the EOD officer community manager to attend the weekend and let the midshipmen know about EOD manning.

"The EOD officer community is healthy, and events like this are what help us to reach out to universities across the country to pull amazing and talented midshipmen into the community," said Lt. Cmdr. Clint Cornell, EOD community manager from Navy Personnel Command (NPC) in Millington, Tennessee. "What we try to do with this (weekend EOD event), since we are one of the smallest communities (just two percent of unrestricted line officers), is get the word out about what the EOD community is about in the Navy."

At present, Cornell said there are more than 440 EOD officers serving in the Navy. Many of the current EOD officers are presently on deployment, or getting ready to deploy, to some of the most dangerous places in the world.

Recently, on October 20, 2016, a roadside bomb explosion in northern Iraq killed EOD Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, from Anaheim, California. It was the first U.S. casualty in the Iraqi-led offensive to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In his welcoming brief to the EOD Exceptional Exposure weekend, Brasfield called for a moment of silence to remember Finan.

The moment allowed the midshipman a chance to reflect on the dangers that can come becoming an EOD officer. Despite the danger, many said they still wanted to be an EOD officer.

"I want to do something where I can actually have an impact," said Hoffman. "Once I got into ROTC and assessed my options, I figured EOD was the best way to be a selfless individual for a living."

Many of the instructors and facilitators, officer and enlisted, said they could see a lot of selflessness and patriotic desire to serve come out in the midshipmen during the weekend.

"I thought the weekend was awesome," said Chief Petty Officer Daniel Smith, an arms, ammunition and explosives manager at the EOD detachment in Panama City, Florida. "Seeing all these young adults coming from colleges from across the nation and showing the motivation and ambition to potentially pursue a career in EOD, diver, or special program was very impressive. These are the type of people the Navy needs and the country needs. These [midshipmen] are the next generation warfighters and the next leaders of our military."

Smith added being part of a weekend at Vanderbilt and getting to learn about the NROTC program was very viable.

"Being from the enlisted ranks and a noncommissioned officer, and being able to come here and work with the midshipmen on behalf of the EOD community was very interesting, and I believe very important for our community," said Smith. "Now I have a better understanding about NROTC, and we were all impressed with their motivation. I hope the midshipmen we met continue to set themselves up for success, keep pushing and driving themselves, and follow through with whatever they want to do whether EOD or not."

Brasfield hopes the weekend continues annually as interested midshipmen look to see if they want to serve as an EOD officer in the Navy.

"Some indicate they really want to be EOD officers, and I hope this will give them all a better understanding of what it will mean to be in this community," he said. "I hope it also helps them become better at networking with other midshipmen, EOD officers, and enlisted members that were part of the weekend. I also hope they all had fun."

Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans oversees the NROTC program as commander of Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes. The establishment of NROTC was to develop midshipmen mentally, morally, and physically. The NROTC program imbues midshipmen with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty, and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as naval officers. The NROTC program produces naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service, and have a potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.

NSTC manages 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes, NROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, Navy Junior ROTC, and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit http://www.nrotc.navy.mil.

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For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/, http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc or http://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining.