On order, the 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) deploys and conducts operations in support of the Combatant Commanders or other government agencies to counter chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives and weapons of mass destruction threats.
Col. Michael Schoonover
Col. Michael Schoonover joined the U.S. Army as an 11B Infantry Soldier in 1990 and was commissioned through the ROTC at Lock Haven University, Pennsylvania, in 1998.
He completed Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal in 2003 and served in continuous EOD positions over the next 16 years. He has served in numerous positions throughout his military career including infantry team leader; maintenance platoon leader; EOD company commander; EOD adviser to the Iraqi and Afghanistan Security Forces; EOD battalion operations officer; EOD battalion executive officer; branch chief in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Military Advisory Team Program; battalion commander; and group deputy commander. Most recently he served as director of the Mobilization, Power Projection Operations Directorate, Support Operations Directorate, U.S. Army Sustainment Command.
Schoonover earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Lock Haven University in 1998 and a Master of Science degree in International Business from Central Michigan University in 2012. He earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies at the U.S. Naval War College while assigned within the Naval Command College working with 58 international students from 55 separate nations.
Command Sgt. Maj. David John Silva
Command Sgt. Maj. David John Silva is from in Long Beach, California. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Aug. 17, 1993. After completing One Station Unit Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 13B, cannon crewmember. After Airborne School he served in 1st Battalion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment (Airborne). Silva volunteered for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training in 1996, and in 1997 graduated from Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal, attaining the basic EOD badge and MOS 55D.
Silva’s assignments include EOD team member and team leader, 748th Ordnance Company (EOD), Fort Jackson, South Carolina; EOD team leader and platoon sergeant, 38th Ordnance Company (EOD), Fort Stewart, Georgia; Weapons of Mass Destruction Coordination Element (WCE) operations NCO, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; first sergeant, 706th Ordnance Company (EOD) and 74th Ordnance Company (EOD), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; operations NCO in charge of the 3rd Ordnance Disposal Battalion (EOD); and Task Force EOD Operation Inherent Resolve command sergeant major, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria. Silva’s previous assignment was command sergeant major for the 79th Ordnance Battalion (EOD) at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Silva’s deployments include Operations Desert Thunder and Desert Fox in 1998; Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002; Iraqi Freedom in 2003, 2005 and 2006-08; Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2010-11; and Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017-18 as a task force command sergeant major.
Silva’s military education includes 13B One Station Unit Training, Airborne School, Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal Course, Radiological Emergency Team Operations (RETOPS), Advance Access and Disablement Course, Humanitarian Demining Course, First Sergeant’s Course, Global Anti-Terror Operators Course, all levels of NCO Education System, and is a graduate of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Resident Course. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College and is in pursuit of his Master of Science Degree in Business Management.
Silva’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal (fourth award), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (third award), Army Commendation Medal (seventh award), Army Achievement Medal (third award), Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal (eighth award), National Defense Ribbon with bronze service star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with bronze service star, Afghan Campaign Medal with campaign star, Iraq Campaign Medal with four campaign stars, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon (fifth award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (second award), NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Basic Parachutist Badge, Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge and Drivers Badge.
The 71st Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) “Raptors” is one of two explosive ordnance disposal groups in the United States Army. On order, the group deploys and conducts operations in support of the combative commanders or other government agencies to counter chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) and weapon of mass destruction threats.
The 71st OD GP (EOD) was activated and redesignated as an EOD group at Fort Carson Oct. 16, 2005, at which time the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment was swiftly positioned to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the Combined Joint Task Force Troy; earning the organization two Joint Meritorious Unit Awards for combating counter improvised explosive devices and proving resoluteness in defeating the enemy’s primary weapon of choice throughout the operation. The 71st Ordnance Group recently returned from deployment to Operation Enduring Freedom serving as Combined Joint Task Force Paladin. Its mission was to train the force, defeat the device, attack the network and enable justice. CJTF Paladin managed the U.S. EOD assets and coordinated with multinational EOD assets throughout Afghanistan.
The official lineage of the 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) was firmly planted on the European battlefront of World War II. The Group was constituted in the U.S. Army on July 17, 1944, and formally activated July 23, 1944, in France. The unit saw service in the European theater of operations earning campaign streamers for Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe before its deactivation in June 1946 in Germany. From there, the unit was transferred to the Reserves and underwent several reorganizations and redesignations, ending as the 361st Ordnance Group. In March 1947 the unit activated in the Ready Reserves until April 1954 when it once again inactivated. One year later, the group returned to the regular Army and activated May 13, 1955, in Germany as the 71st Ordnance Group until it inactivated June 1959. The 71st Ordnance Group remained inactive until it was reactivated December 1962 in Korea and inactivated Jan. 1, 1966, in the Republic of Korea.
The 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) is one of two active-duty EOD groups in the U.S. Army and has an additional responsibility to support U.S. Northern Command as a homeland defense asset. With the largest concentration of EOD Soldiers in the Army, the group consists of the headquarters, three subordinate battalions, and a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) company. The group’s subordinate units are positioned strategically across the area of operations to provide timely EOD support.
EOD Basic Badge
EOD Master Badge
EOD Senior Badge
The wreath is symbolic of the achievements and laurels gained by minimizing accident potentials, through the ingenuity and devotion to duty of its members. It is in memory of the EOD personnel who have given their lives while performing EOD duties.
The bomb was copied from the design of the World War II Bomb Disposal Badge; the bomb represents the historic and major objective of the EOD attack, the unexploded bomb. The three fins represent the major areas of nuclear, conventional, and chemical/biological warfare.
The lightning bolts symbolize the potential destructive power of the bomb and the courage and professionalism of EOD personnel in their endeavors to reduce hazards as well as to render hazards as well as to render explosive ordnance harmless.
The shield represents the EOD mission which is to protect personnel and property in the immediate area from an inadvertent detonation of hazardous ordnance.
Red (crimson) and gold (yellow) are the colors traditionally used by Army Ordnance. Red is also the color of the Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded the unit in World War II.
The lightning bolt adapted from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Badge, recognizes boldness and rapid response.
The fleur-de-lis refers to the unit's history of being activated in France.
The drawn sword symbolizes the group's readiness to engage in battle.
The five stars commemorate the organization's five campaigns from World War II and the following five core missions of the 71st Ordnance: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosives (CBRNE).
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment
Fort Carson, CO
24 hour response line: 719-524-3173
242d Ordnance Battalion EOD
Fort Carson, CO
24 hour response line: 719-526-2833
3rd Ordnance Battalion EOD
Fort Lewis, WA
24 hour response line: 253-548-5344
79th Ordnance Battalion EOD
Fort Riley, KS
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM
24 hour response line: 505-853-7263