Navy offers up to $150,000 enlistment bonus for master Explosive Ordnance techs

Above: A Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician from EOD Mobile Unit 4 Detachment 12 out of Manama, Bahrain, swims out to plant a dummy limpet mine on a vessel during exercise Island Response. The training allowed divers from the Seychelles Coast Guard to practice removing the mines from ship hulls.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Short on sailors who have mastered Explosive Ordnance Disposal skills, the Navy is offering up to $150,000 for some master EOD technicians as part of a new re-enlistment bonus program, Navy officials said.

The Navy was prompted to offer the bonus because the field is critically undermanned, said Master Chief John Siegel, EOD community manager and technical adviser.

About 147 sailors are eligible for the bonus through the end of fiscal 2009, Siegel said Wednesday.

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