3rd EOD Company and TMAC cooperate to destroy explosive remnants of war

By Cpl. Justin Cledera, III Marine Expeditionary Force

PHU LAM YAI TRAINING GROUND, Thailand – U.S. Marines with 3rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company and members of Thailand Mine Action Center completed a Deploy for Training bilateral explosive ordnance disposal exercise at Phu Lam Yai Training Ground, Sept. 4, 2026.

For two weeks, the exercise centered on strengthening partner-nation interoperability, exchanging subject matter expertise, and large-scale demolitions. 3rd EOD Company, assigned to 9th Engineer Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 37, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, deployed from Okinawa to support the Royal Thai Armed Forces hosted training, reinforcing III Marine Expeditionary Force’s operational readiness across the pacific.

During the exercise, combined teams located and destroyed 10,511 explosive remnants of war recovered from Thailand’s border regions. Accounting for 4,596 pounds of net explosive weight. EOD technicians also disassembled, analyzed, and deactivated 11 live ordnance items, converting them into inert training aids for future instruction.

“Working with explosive remnants of war creates a more effective understanding of their key characteristics and realistic exposure to what EOD technicians will encounter during real-world operations,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thomas Gary, an explosive ordnance disposal officer with 3rd EOD Company.

The U.S. Marine Corps and the Royal Thai Armed Forces have collaborated on bilateral EOD engagements and the Humanitarian Mine Action missions since 2013. “Based on my experience as the police coordinator who has participated in joint training exercises with the U.S. Marines over the years in numerous locations, I have been very impressed by the friendship, openness, camaraderie, and strong sense of teamwork throughout our joint training,” said Royal Thai Provincial Police Sgt. Maj. Witit Selarak, an explosive ordnance disposal technician with the Thailand Mine Action Center. “The police teams have been able to observe and adapt these leadership practices to their own work in ways that are appropriate, effective, and consistent with operational requirements.”

U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Zach Lewis, an EOD technician with 3rd EOD Company, highlighted the long-term regional stability developed through repeat iterations.

“It is important that we continue to foster a relationship with the Kingdom of Thailand and the Thai military because our strategic partnership fosters growth and development as a deterrent to other threat actors in the Pacific,” Lewis said. “I’ve learned that there are certain invaluable exchanges of experience that can only be achieved here in this environment.”

Marines and Thai EOD technicians integrated conventional and binary demolition techniques throughout the bilateral exercise. Binary explosives are a product of two separate components that become an explosive material only after they are combined.

“We aim to learn from each other, build our skills, and develop safe and efficient methods for working with ordnance to ensure the safety of personnel and property,” Gary said. “Using both conventional and binary explosives during our training was a fantastic learning experience for our team. In a logistically constrained environment, finding alternative sources of demolition materials and employing them safely will be the key to accomplishing the mission.”