Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery M. Dawson and his spouse Trish Dawson attend his retirement ceremony on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Dawson is probably the most extremely embellished Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician within the historical past of an elite twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD).
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Probably the most extremely embellished explosive ordnance disposal, or EOD, technician within the historical past of an elite U.S. Army airborne EOD firm just lately retired after recovering from a combat-related gunshot wound that paralyzed him from the chest down.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery M. Dawson accomplished his legendary profession with the twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD), the Army’s solely Particular Operations-focused EOD firm with handpicked and extremely educated EOD Troopers who assist direct motion missions world wide.
The Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based twenty eighth EOD Firm (Airborne) is a part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and twentieth Chemical, Organic, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. army’s premier all hazards formation.
In an Army EOD group first, seventy fifth Ranger Regiment Commander Col. Jim “JD” Kiersey and Command Sgt. Maj. Curt D. Donaldson attended his ceremony and upgraded Dawson’s standing from an “honorary member” to a “distinguished member” of the Ranger Regiment.
A part of U.S. Army Particular Operations Command, the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment is the U.S. Army’s premier direct motion gentle infantry power. The regiment can deploy one Ranger Battalion to hotspots world wide inside 18 hours of notification.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery M. Dawson (left) is acknowledged by seventy fifth Ranger Regiment Commander Col. Jim “JD” Kiersey throughout his retirement ceremony on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Dawson is probably the most extremely embellished Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician within the historical past of an elite airborne twenty eighth Ordnance Firm Firm (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), the one-of-a-kind EOD firm that assist direct motion missions round world. Courtesy picture.
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A seasoned fight veteran who’s initially from Coalville, Utah, Dawson deployed to Iraq with the 722nd EOD Firm earlier than being chosen for the twenty eighth EOD Firm. Throughout his six years with the twenty eighth EOD Firm, Dawson deployed to Afghanistan seven occasions.
Dawson stated EOD technicians safeguarded forces and enabled operations throughout the World Battle on Terror by confronting and defeating the enemy’s most popular weapon — the improvised explosive gadget. EOD forces have rendered protected greater than 100,000 improvised explosive units in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006 and have educated 1000’s of host nation forces.
“Throughout the World Battle on Terror, IEDs and different advanced explosive units had been at an all-time excessive. Many maneuver parts relied closely on the talent and competency of EOD technicians. Not simply from the Army however all providers. Usually occasions, the weather would embed EOD as an natural asset,” stated Dawson. “I usually overheard many members of the weather we’ve supported say that they’d by no means go outdoors of the wire with out EOD on the manifest. That’s what makes EOD techs so necessary to the army.”
Throughout his profession, Dawson defeated tons of of explosive units and earned the Purple Coronary heart for fight accidents twice.
“As an EOD tech, probably the most memorable missions stand out as a result of they had been both actually good or actually dangerous,” stated Dawson. “Working with particular operations forces, you usually end up in conditions the place the end result can sway in both path in a second’s discover.”
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffery M. Dawson, probably the most extremely embellished Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician within the historical past of the elite twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD), just lately retired after recovering from a combat-related gunshot wound that paralyzed him from the chest down. Dawson earned the nation’s second highest army medal, the Distinguished Service Cross, throughout a mission in Afghanistan.
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The missions that stand out probably the most for Dawson are the one the place he earned the nation’s second highest army medal, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the mission that just about ended his life and left him paralyzed from the chest down.
In Afghanistan on Oct. 5, 2013, Dawson participated in a mission to seize or kill a excessive worth Taliban chief who was planning terror assaults.
“The IED menace was low and it was presupposed to be a fast simple goal,” Dawson stated. “Upon infiltration all the things modified in minutes.”
A fleeing rebel detonated an explosive and killed a staff member and the staff’s multi-purpose canine, Jani.
Dawson quickly realized that his staff was surrounded by stress plate IEDs. He halted the mission, positioned the improvised explosive units and aided within the evacuation of lifeless and wounded Troopers. 4 U.S. Troopers had been killed by explosive units throughout the mission.
Though severely injured throughout two totally different explosions, Dawson labored in restricted visibility to find three confirmed stress plate IEDs and 6 extra suspected units. He then cleared a path to evacuate the fallen and wounded Troopers.
Workers Sgt. Jeffery M. Dawson acquired the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest medal for valor, throughout a ceremony on Fort Benning, Ga., Feb. 17, 2015. Dawson, probably the most extremely embellished Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician within the historical past of the elite twenty eighth Ordnance Firm (EOD), just lately retired after recovering from a combat-related gunshot wound that paralyzed him from the chest down.
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On Feb. 17, 2015, then-Army Vice Chief of Workers Gen. Daniel B. Allyn introduced the Distinguished Service Cross to Dawson throughout a ceremony on Fort Benning, Georgia. Sgt. Bryan C. Anderson, the Ranger Platoon medic on the identical mission, additionally acquired the Distinguished Service Cross throughout the ceremony. The seventy fifth Ranger Regiment submitted them for the award.
On one other mission in Afghanistan in July 2019, Dawson was shot and severely wounded.
“After I was shot, it got here in my proper arm and got here to relaxation upon impacting and fracturing my left shoulder blade, collapsing each lungs and exposing my spinal wire within the course of,” stated Dawson. “I’m grateful for the experience of the medic that carried out life-saving therapy which allowed me the chance to reside regardless of all odds.”
The medic saved Dawson by utilizing a chest tube to inflate his collapsing lungs.
Dawson was medically evacuated to Germany for surgical procedure after which to Walter Reed Nationwide Navy Medical Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. He moved subsequent to James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida, a facility that focuses on spinal accidents.
Working with bodily therapists and utilizing the robust and tenacious “by no means give up” method that made him profitable on the battlefield, Dawson stood once more after which he walked once more.
Workers Sgt. Jeffery M. Dawson acquired the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest medal for valor, throughout a ceremony on Fort Benning, Ga., Feb. 17. 2015. Dawson just lately retired after recovering recovering from a combat-related gunshot wound that paralyzed him from the chest down.
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Lower than a yr after being severely wounded, Dawson took on 5K and walked 3.1 miles unassisted. Since then, he has accomplished a 6.2-mile stroll and a triathlon with a quarter-mile swim, 11-mile bike experience and three.1 mile stroll with out assistive units.
“The important thing to my restoration was principally psychological,” stated Dawson. “I misplaced management of all the things from the chest down, with that I misplaced any bodily conditioning previous to my damage. I basically needed to begin over as a new child in a 33-year-old man’s physique.
“Since I’m nonetheless making an attempt to relearn all the things, I’ve to maintain a constructive psychological perspective so I can proceed to progress,” stated Dawson.
After returning house to North Carolina, Dawson has taken time to give attention to therapeutic the seen and invisible scars from a number of fight missions. “I nonetheless stay energetic as a lot as I can,” stated Dawson. “I get pleasure from searching, fishing, mountain climbing and different out of doors actions that get my coronary heart pumping. Sooner or later, I wish to full a mud run.”
He has enrolled in school and he’s searching for alternatives to assist different veterans.
Dawson stated the spotlight of his profession was being acknowledged by the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment for actions on the battlefield.
“I used to be surrounded by individuals who needed to be there,” stated Dawson. “It has been an honor working with the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment. Their experience and professionalism set the usual for others to look as much as.
“What makes the twenty eighth a terrific firm is that it’s full of specifically chosen and effectively educated Troopers who won’t ever settle for defeat and by no means fail to finish the mission. Troopers who’ve the willingness to shoulder greater than their share of the duty, no matter it could be, a hundred percent after which some,” stated Dawson. “To achieve success within the twenty eighth, it’s essential to be in form, comfy working autonomously, clever, and most significantly, you should be trainable.”
Maj. Stephen M. Knudsen, the commanding officer of the twenty eighth EOD Firm, stated his firm has all the time relied on the experience, grit and willpower of noncommissioned officers like Dawson to assist Special Forces models on the tip of the spear world wide.
“The twenty eighth is a one-of-a-kind formation with ahead parts repeatedly deployed all through the whole thing of its 13-year historical past,” stated Knudsen. “It offers a painfully gentle and disproportionally deadly airborne EOD functionality to the seventy fifth Ranger Regiment and Particular Operations Command throughout disaster response, raid and joint forcible entry operations.”
Knudsen, a 14-year veteran from Sutter Creek, California, has deployed to Iraq as soon as and Afghanistan thrice. The twenty eighth EOD Firm commander stated Dawson had by no means let his heroic deeds and storied service within the Explosive Ordnance Disposal group go to his head.
“The factor that stands out about Sgt. 1st Class Dawson is how approachable and right down to earth he’s,” stated Knudsen. “He’s a legend within the profession subject, but he’s such a lightweight hearted, humorous and real individual. If there was anybody who has earned the fitting to be tremendous smug or macho, it’s him, however as a substitute you’re greeted by a humble man with a heat grin carrying a cat shirt.”
