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***image1***Capt. Matthew Brennan has numbers.
Five million pounds of ordnance removed; more than 100,000 projectiles, rockets and mortars disposed of and a 39,000 square-mile area of responsibility are just a few.
For these numbers, Captain Brennan was awarded the Bronze Star for his “meritorious achievement” as commander of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight during his time at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq.
“His unsurpassed leadership was pivotal in rendering safe more than (62) terrorist improvised explosive devices … he directed forces with swift and decisive action, saving the lives of countless 173rd Airborne Brigade soldiers patrolling the area,” wrote Maj. Mike Saunders, 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron commander in Captain Brennan’s citation.
IEDs are responsible for most of the severe injuries and many deaths among U.S. troops in Iraq. However, the Pentagon estimates 40 percent of roadside bombs are found and disposed of before they explode.
“It was rewarding knowing we were saving lives,” said Captain Brennan. “But for every IED we disarmed, there were another two or more we never found that went off.”
The Syracuse University graduate’s five-month tour in Iraq was busy: he cleared Al Fahtah airfield, the largest unsecured ordnance cache to date with more than 7,000 aircraft bombs that had been utilized in IEDs. He protected 4,400 troops in his battle space and his explosive ordnance disposal team’s efforts helped the 1st and 12th Armor Battalion secure the cities of Al Huwayjah and Ridyadh. He led a joint Army and Air Force EOD unit, guiding them though their mission of rendering each deadly explosive “safe.”
“He was the epitome of leadership; he always puts his troops and mission first,” said Master Sgt. Robert Wenner, EOD flight chief at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, who served with Captain Brennan in Iraq. “He deserved the Bronze Star; he wasn’t a leader who (sat around) and tried to gain recognition; he led from the front.”
