Bomb Technician Requirements
Becoming a bomb technician is not an overnight process. The amount of training it takes to enter this profession is akin to joining the military in its physical demands. Like the military, there are several requirements you must meet before being accepted as a candidate into the FBI’s hazardous explosives school in Alabama. Here are some of those requirements. The FBI requires you to have five continuous years in a law enforcement agency prior to applying for a bomb squad. Since defusing bombs is a stressful position, you must be calm and calculating in the face of constant stress. Physical fitness is also important, as you must wear the hot and heavy bomb suit when responding to a situation and be able to perform various “grunt work” activities such as digging holes.
Some people are allergic to the materials used to build a bomb and thus becoming an explosives technician is really not the right job for them. Can you imagine the movie scene; the tech goes to cut the red wire, sneezes, and cuts the blue one instead? It just wouldn’t work in the long run. Personnel in hazardous materials teams are often called upon for national emergencies, training, and other events requiring travel, so you should be aware that this is a probability before considering this position. Bomb technicians are on call pretty much 24/7 as well. Because you might be involved in national emergencies requiring you to have security clearances, large debts will usually disqualify you from becoming part of a bomb squad “the rationale goes, because you may be at greater risk to accept money for the classified data you will have access to.”
Having the ability to work both on your own and as part of a team is a necessary skill when working with hazardous materials. Bomb technician jobs are generally divided into three categories: military, public safety, and UXO. An UnExploded Ordnance or UXO technician is responsible for finding and defusing explosives found on government property while public safety technicians handle explosives on non-government property. Military explosive technicians handle both types of property. Court testimony, public awareness campaigns, and training fellow technicians are some of the other responsibilities that public safety technicians fulfill.
Tags: Bomb Technician, Explosives School, Military Explosive