10-Year Agreement Strengthens EOD Tech Between NSWC IHD, USBTA
INDIAN HEAD, Md. — The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) has signed a landmark Public-Private Partnership (P3) Agreement with the United States Bomb Technician Association (USBTA). The agreement, under NSWC IHD’s Center for Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) designation, marks a significant step toward advancing Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technologies and capabilities.
Sean Dennis, USBTA President, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “The USBTA is honored and excited to expand our incredible relationship with NSWC Indian Head. We look forward to being even more involved in the research, testing, and evaluations of EOD Technologies and energetics with this partnership agreement in place.”
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Credit: Ashli Jernigan / U.S. NavyUnited States Bomb Technician Association (USBTA) and Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWCIHD)have signed a multi-year agreement to provide test, evaluation and demonstration and assessment services forEnergetics Systems and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) related technologies. [Pictured left to right: Jon Vaala, Co-founder USBTA; Sean Dennis, President USBTA; Ashley Johnson, Technical Director, NSWCIHD; Navy Capt. Steve Duba,Commanding Officer, NSWC IHD.
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Leveraging CITE for CollaborationNSWC IHD’s CITE designation, awarded in May 2014, provides statutory authority to establish P3s to address core competencies in depot maintenance and military arsenal activities. The designation enables the Navy to optimize its energetics capabilities while addressing underutilized capacity.
This 10-year agreement will see NSWC IHD and USBTA collaborating on test, evaluation, demonstration, and assessment services for Energetics and Energetic Systems. These services will include work on EOD-related technologies and explosive threat detection equipment designed for use by the Department of Defense (DoD), Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal (JSEOD) teams, physical security personnel, and civilian law enforcement.
Enhancing Warfighter SafetyNSWC IHD Commanding Officer Capt. Steve Duba highlighted the agreement’s importance to the EOD community. “NSWC IHD is increasingly being called on to provide our T&E expertise to the warfighters in the EOD community. This agreement with USBTA will leverage experts on both sides to do what is necessary to win the fight and bring them home safely. Relationships such as these are integral to the work being done to further these efforts.”
Ashley Johnson, NSWC IHD Technical Director, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the dynamic potential of the partnership. “These partnerships are so powerful and dynamic in how we’re going to approach business. Not only are they the right thing to do, but you can see how productive they are when you take advantage of the strengths each bring to the table. The marriage of these two strengths is really where the power is. It’s very exciting for us to do this.”
NSWC IHD’s Role in DefenseNSWC IHD, a Naval Sea Systems Command field activity, is a leader in ordnance, energetics, and EOD solutions. Its focus areas include energetics research, development, testing, evaluation, in-service support, manufacturing, and disposal. The Division also provides warfighters with critical tools to detect, locate, access, identify, render safe, recover, exploit, and dispose of explosive threats.
This partnership underscores NSWC IHD’s commitment to innovation and collaboration in support of warfighter safety and operational success.
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