Navy EOD Requirements
- Navy EOD comes with its own set of requirements.us navy granite image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
Life as a sailor in the U.S. Navy encompasses many things and provides ample opportunities for hard work and character-building. One job open to recruits is joining the Navy's EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) teams. EOD is critical for the safety of Naval operations. EOD teams are tasked with identifying, removing and diffusing potentially dangerous explosive material. Doing so may require a steely nerve, but joining the EOD team comes with its own list of stringent requirements. - Interested candidates should speak to their Navy recruiter about volunteer duty before reaching their 31st birthday. Interested candidates must pass a battery of tests, including successfully passing a diving exam administered by the Diving Medical Officer and diving pressure test. Vision must be 20/200 (correctable to 20/20). Color blindness is grounds for automatic disqualification. Persons must be U.S. citizens with one full year without non-judicial judgments and have ASVAB scores of 110 (combined AR and VE) or 165 (combined GS, MC and EI).
- EOD obviously has its physical demands, so there are physical requirements that must be met to be considered for the teams. A minimum of 42 push-ups in two minutes and 50 sit-ups in two minutes are paramount, as well as being able to run 1.5 miles in less than 12 minutes and 45 seconds. Six dead hang pull-ups must be demonstrated, although there's no time limit, and a 500-yard swim using either the side or breast stroke in less than 14 minutes must be passed as well.
- A tolerance for the hyperbaric chamber must be reviewed to earn a satisfactory rating, and a baseline minimum on all the physical performance tests must be met without exception. All basic medical standards as outlined in the NAVMED P-117 must be met, and no less than 36 hours of assigned duty must be agreed to upon completion of EOD training. Upon recommendation for a commanding officer, applicants will be screened by an EOD officer to see if the individual is of good character.
