More than 20 Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 12 returned to Norfolk Naval Station from a deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations Jan. 8.

During their deployment, EODMU 12 Sailors worked alongside regional allies providing counter-improvised explosive device (IED) training through subject matter expert exchanges and training exercises.

"During our deployment, EODMU 12 Sailors were spread throughout the Horn of Africa, providing counter-IED skills to our local partners to help prepare them to face violent extremism," said Cmdr. Ken Kleinschnittger, commanding officer of EODMU 12. "It is still a new effort for our community but it was a great opportunity for the Sailors to be creative on how they approached their mission. I'm very proud of their accomplishments over the past six to seven months."

Capt. John Moulton, commander, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) 2, met with waiting families and commended the Sailors on completion of a successful deployment.

"I am very proud of Cmdr. Kleinschnittger and his team," said Moulton. "All of the great stuff they did in the six months they were deployed, especially the missions they accomplished for the commands they were supporting, the way they were able to codify support for future rotations and for making certain we had the right training relationships and equipment out there, is very impressive. Great job by Mobile Unit 12 and I'm glad to have the unit back home.

EODGRU 2, headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (JEBLCFS), oversees all east coast based Navy EOD mobile units, including one forward deployed mobile unit in Spain, as well as EOD Expeditionary Support Unit (EODESU) 2, EOD Training and Evaluation Unit (EODTEU) 2, and Mobile Diving & Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2.

U.S. Navy EOD counters explosive hazards in all environments by being able to locate, identify, render safe, recover, conduct field evaluation and dispose of all explosive ordnance, including mines, improvised explosive devices and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.