Everyone (especially
asr25@hotmail.com),
Please accept my apologies for not replying sooner. I had a lot of things going on (work and personal) when I originally posted my question and I failed to respond to your posts. This post should answer most of your questions. I will take Mr. Vincent's advice, as well, about posting in the Military Divers section.
We occasionally have a need for personnel who can dive in areas where there may be Materials Potentially Presenting an Explosives Hazard (MPPEH). However, MPPEH dive projects are usually few and far between. The requirements are quite extensive:
Must have certification that you are trained to the appropriate level for diving from the military or an accredited commercial school;
Have at least one year of experience as a diver;
Must have completed at least four working dives with similar equipment;
Must be a graduate of the U.S. Naval Explosives Ordnance Disposal School;
Must be trained to use all necessary equipment;
Must be trained in emergency procedures;
Must be trained in CPR and diving-related health concerns;
Must have a 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOPER) training certificate, maintained with 8-hour refresher training;
Have to be able to pass an ATF background check;
Have to be able to pass a physical, including all dive-related physical requirements.
The requirement to be the Project Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Diving Supervisor are those, plus there is the requirement for more experience and the ability to take on more responsibilities.
Nearly 90% of the team members that I work with are former military (Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps) EOD personnel; most are male, but there are some female UXO technicians. The rest learn from commercial schools. However, over 99% of our projects are land-based Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) or BRAC sites; our UXO teams clear MPPEH to depths as deep as 4 feet (if there is future construction that requires it). Any unacceptable-to-move item is blown in place; others that are acceptable-to-move are part of a consolidated shot.
The private industry does pay well. For example, in the State of Illinois, per the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage Determination 2005-2175, Revision 7, an UXO Technician I must make a minimum of $21.58 per hour, UXO Technician II - $26.11 per hour, UXO Technician III - $31.50 per hour. Add to that a fringe of $3.25 per hour, and if there are explosives hazards, add 8% to the basic hourly rate. If you dive and do UXO work, there is the additional 60% added to the hourly rate. (Military guys, we use the DDESB TP-18 to determine the UXO technician level.) And yes, if you work overtime, you do get 1.5 times the hourly rate, haz duty, pay and all. But, you cannot work more than 50 hours a week (per Corps safety regulations).
We often have a need for UXO Supervisors, UXO Safety Officers, and UXO Quality Control Specialists as well. These are the team members who make sure the project site is managed safely, with quality, and ensure that the project gets done on schedule. Supervisory personnel are compensated at higher rates.
I must say that as a whole, our industry (Military Munitions Response) is a safe one. We follow the DDESB and USACE guidlelines to the letter, because it is important to us to bring all our guys home safely, and to leave the communities, installations, posts, etc. that we have been tasked with clearing less hazardous for the public, the military, and everyone who may venture to that site. None of our UXO technicians has ever been hurt on the job due to explosives hazards. Our overall safety program is the best in the industry.
That being said, if you, or someone you know is interested in land UXO work or underwater UXO work, you may e-mail me at
smcgraw@ecc.net. We maintain a database of qualified UXO technicians, and we work not only in the U.S. (to those of you who are curious, yes, there is unexploded ordnance in these United States, including Alaska and Hawaii), but in many parts of the world, including Canada, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, etc. Right now, things are a little slow on the FUDS and BRAC side of things, but we expect more work to come later in the year, particularly on active ranges where there is scheduled range construction, or on FUDS sites with high priority.
Thank you again for your interest! And, no matter what, please be safe out there!
feature. Hope you enjoy your time here. Click my Username to PM me if I can help...??
