Shining star

Staff Sgt. Phillip Granath knows “the longest walk.”

An explosive ordnance disposal expert, the 27-year-old Air Force veteran has survived three tours of duty in Iraq. In keeping the desert roadways clear of improvised explosive devices, Granath has been on the front lines of America’s war on terror.

The time suiting up and physically advancing on an explosive device is called “the longest walk.” That’s his job.

“There are a lot of factors” in choosing explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) as a military profession, Granath said. “Some of it is true that guys get addicted to the rush. I don’t consider myself one of them. You work with a group of people who are really the best. If something happens and everything goes wrong (with you or) members of your team, you hold their lives in your hands.”

Granath, son of Ann and Phil Granath of Palmer, has earned the respect of the Army, which has awarded the 2000 Palmer High School graduate the Bronze Star.

That the Army would go out of its way to decorate a member of another branch of the service is appreciated and humbling, Granath said.

“It is an honor, especially from the Army’s perspective,” he said. “They don’t give out accolades very easily, and to give one to someone in another branch of the service, it just goes to show how appreciated the EOD technicians are.”

In support of United States troops in Iraq, Granath “was instrumental in the safe resolution of over 500 emergency responses, including 100 improvised explosive devices incidents, 150 weapons caches and 50 unexploded ordnance responses,” according to documentation recommending him for the Bronze Star.

In one of those incidents, Granath’s team worked on a Humvee that found itself parked on a pressure wire for an IED, his mother said.

“He had to defuse that while they were sitting in the truck,” she said. “He said that when he looked up and could see those guys were OK, it was then he knew he was doing the right job. At that moment, he said he really knew why he was there.”

Some may question the sanity of a person who volunteers for such hazardous duty, but Granath said the challenge of excelling at such an important job was what drew him to EOD.

“Basically, it’s a military bomb squad,” he said. “It’s volunteer only, and it’s anywhere from a year to a year and a half of school. And, about 75 percent wash out.”

In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, “Those roadside bombs in Iraq? That’s all us,” he said, adding the military has to stay on its toes to keep up with the creativity of insurgent and terrorist groups. “That’s the job. That’s what we sign up for.”

The bombs and booby traps left to kill American troops “get extremely sophisticated,” he said. “They could use numerous types of firing systems, radio controlled, pressure switches, booby trap systems where if you move it blows up.”

A pair of incidents cited in his Bronze Star recommendation happened as part of a route clearing expedition, Granath said. During that mission, the EOD technicians had trouble with their remote controlled bomb defusing robots.

“These where placed in a manner that were set up to be a complex ambush where multiple IEDs would’ve detonated,” he said. “Then, we ran into some considerable problems with our robotics.”

Although using the robots is the safest method of disposal, “I’ve pulled more than one bomb apart with my bare hands,” he said. “But that definitely is not the preferred method. However, we are very highly trained and very highly motivated.”

It’s that training and motivation that helps his mother deal with having a son serving in such a dangerous capacity overseas.

“Mostly, I’m just proud,” Ann Granath said. “Those guys are trained so well, and you know, I think it’s more dangerous out on the highways. I have a lot of confidence in my kid. I worried more about a sniper taking him out than a bomb, and that’s a big danger over there.”

Granath is now stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and is less than a year from his enlistment being up. His mother said she can’t wait to see him home in the Valley again and that she’s not surprised he earned a Bronze Star.

“He’s always been a young man who’s taken leadership in anything he’s done,” she said. “I’m not surprised.”

Keeping one step ahead of the enemy is a full-time job, Granath said. At times, terrorist forces will stage dummy bombings or deliberately place IEDs to observe how the military will respond.

“They watch our procedures, they put out hoaxes just to watch us respond so they can react in what they do just so they can kill us.”

Looking out for others, whether they be fellow soldiers, Iraqi civilians or his family, is part of Phillip Granath’s nature, his mother said.

During his first tour of duty, Granath told his family he was in Kuwait so they wouldn’t worry about him serving in Iraq, she said. She recalls talking with him on the telephone one day when, suddenly, loud sirens started going off.

Although his unit was under a rocket attack, he calmly told his mother that “he was still in Kuwait and that it was just a drill,” she said.

After nearly 10 years of training and serving on the front lines disposing of IEDs, will Granath find civilian life in the Valley boring?

“That’s the question,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to returning to Alaska and returning home.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.