Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Group 1 kicked off the EOD Speaker Series, March 3, with Cmdr. Grant Kidd, department head of neurology at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

Kidd spoke with the EOD audience about Traumatic Brain Injury: Care and Assessment and discussed the history of TBI, approaches to management, and options for continued care and resiliency.

Kidd described the unique challenges of studying and researching TBI in the military community.

"Most of the cases in the military with IED (improvised explosive device) blast exposure, you cannot apply the sports-related or concussion data to what you have been through because it is a different mechanism of injury," said Kidd, who contrasted injuries in war zones with injuries seen on the football field.

"[For football players] it is the constant repetitive trauma that leads to significant brain damage, [not a single blast]," said Kidd.

The talk was the first in a series of engagements as part of the framework of the EOD Leader Development Program which is scheduled throughout 2017.

"The speaker series is one way we are developing our leaders in the U.S. Navy, and is an extension of our Leadership Continuum to further the professional education of our forces," said Lt. Cmdr. Brian Reitter, chief staff officer of EOD Group 1, who added this training falls directly in line with the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson's Navy Leader Development Framework released in January.

The framework emphasized the need for Navy leaders to demonstrate a deliberate commitment to grow throughout their naval careers.

"To prepare ourselves to lead the Navy today requires a dedicated and coherent approach that starts on day one and continues throughout our careers -- we all must create opportunities to become better leaders and to make our teams stronger," according to the Framework for Navy Leader Development.

Lt. Cmdr. Alex Campbell, executive officer of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 1, appreciated the opportunity to broaden perspectives and learn from experts about TBI.

"This inaugural EOD Speaker Series event presented an unprecedented opportunity for the Navy EOD force to broaden perspectives and exchange new ideas," said Campbell. "Commander Kidd's discussion on traumatic brain injury hit close to home for many EOD combat veterans, and understanding the science behind it goes a long way toward helping Sailors overcome some of those challenges."

The EOD Speaker Series will continue throughout the year and cover various topics aimed at developing versatile leaders in the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Navy EOD is the world's premier combat force for countering explosive hazards and conducting expeditionary diving and salvage.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.