Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit (EODESU) 2 welcomed a new commanding officer, July 3.

Cmdr. Jack French relieved Capt. Robert Mazzarella in a ceremony aboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in front of family, friends and command members.

Capt. Richard Hayes, commander of EOD Group 2, served as presiding officer and guest speaker.

Hayes spoke about the twelve-year history of the EODESUs, which were designed to consolidate logistics, supply, diving and maintenance for the EOD community under one roof on each coast.

“While in command of EOD Mobile Unit 11, I turned in all my vehicles, boats and supply personnel to EODESU 1,” Hayes said. “I remember those early conversations. ‘You’re going to do the maintenance on all the boats and all the vehicles, and all I have to do is check them out?’ I was all in!”

He went on to recognize Mazzarella’s leadership and the command’s accomplishments during his tenure, noting EODESU 2 earned the Retention Excellence Award, Green “H” and Blue “H” in 2017 and 2018. The command also earned the Chief of Naval Operations Expeditionary Safety Award for fiscal year 2018.

Mazzarella, a 1997 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, addressed the crowd, expressing his gratitude and respect for the EODESU 2 team’s accomplishments during his two-year command tour.

“To the men and women of EODESU 2, your commitment, respect and integrity create a culture necessary to effectively serve the EOD force and improve warfighter readiness and sustainment,” Mazzarella said. “Your role in maintaining inventory, repairing, purchasing and issuing equipment, as well as providing first-class customer support has been absolutely critical in ensuring our EOD units of action are combat ready. We provide expertise in the logistics arena that is vital for the Navy to become more agile and adapt to a faster paced, more complex and increasingly competitive security environment.”

He recognized individual personnel and units whose forward thinking and innovation continue to move the force forward.

In his last act as commanding officer, EODESU 2 Command Master Chief Jeff King joined him on stage to re-enlist for four more years of service.

Mazzarella and French read their orders, and French took command.

French, a 1999 graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder, reported from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he served as program objective memorandum development section head.

French expressed his gratitude for the opportunity command EODESU 2.

“I’m humbled and honored to be joining this team,” French said. “I have seen you demonstrate your character, professionalism and ability to operate as a well-integrated and highly functioning unit. You are truly remarkable, and I look forward to the future as we continue to work towards always being ready.”

EODESU 2 provides logistics support to EOD Group 2 commands through arms, ammunition and explosives; civil engineer support equipment; small boats and utility craft, table of allowance inventory; recompression chamber and diving equipment support; tactical communications; facility planning and programing and limited tent camp support. 

EOD Group 2 oversees all east-coast based EOD and diving and salvage units and is comprised of EOD Mobile Unit (EODMU) 2, EODMU 6, EODMU 12, EOD Training and Evaluation Unit 2, MDSU 2, and EODESU 2, all based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and EODMU 8 based in Rota, Spain.

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