Airman in Focus - Staff Sgt. Robert Eisnor

Barnes Air National Guard Base, 104 Fighter Wing - Westfield, Mass -- Recently returned from a 5-mile road march, Staff Sgt. Robert Eisnor drops his 50 pound pack and begins to attend to the assorted paperwork on his desk in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit here at Barnes. He dutifully sorts through the forms and folders that pertain to his upcoming deployment to Southwest Asia.

The Worcester native has been in the Air Force since 2002 and is familiar with the process. A veteran of two deployments to Kirkuk, Iraq as an EOD member, Eisnor is an expert in his field and takes great pride in his work. EOD members share a unique camaraderie and espirit de corps.

Eisnor is keenly aware that the enemy regards EOD members as critical to the success of the coalition forces mission, and often targets those individuals. His previous tours have undoubtedly helped him prepare for the pending deployment.

He recalls with some amusement his first experience in theatre in Iraq in 2005.
In Kirkuk , Eisnor's team received a quick handoff from the previous team, and needed to acquaint themselves on the hostile environment in short order. During their first response call for an IED, Eisnors team was travelling around a notorious rotary that served as a main bottleneck for the area. As he glanced out the window, he was struck by the sight of a carload of Iraqis dressed in civilian attire holding AK-47's and RPG's not more than two feet from their vehicle. He quickly asked an experienced team member if those individuals were indeed the enemy and that perhaps they should respond accordingly. Assured that they were the "good guys", Eisnor breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that incident reflected the atmosphere and chaos of 2005 in Iraq.

Eisnor will temporarily leave his position as a bomb appraiser with the Transportation Security Administration at TF Green Airport in Providence, RI.