"This TV series will demonstrate the quality and professional training of Navy EODs, and their mission – saving lives, taking care of the stuff that’s killing"
It’s A Blast Using Macs! Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan
By: Lisa Hill. Images by Big Fish Entertainment, Washington D.C.
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Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan 10-Part series scheduled October 25th 2011 on G4 TV Network (g4tv.com/bomb-patrol): The Real Story about Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
Exclusivie Interview with Big Fish Entertainment Lead Executive Producer Dan Cesareo, U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobil Unit (EODMU) Three Chief John Groat, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) One PAO Lieutenant David Bennett.
In Afghanistan, Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs aren’t selective, or discriminatory. IEDs injure and kill thousands of civilians, U.S. and international military personnel. Yet there’s one small brave band of highly trained U.S. naval men and women who tackle these nefarious, soulless killers. Welcome to the explosive world of EOD.
“Our primary mission is to save lives…that’s the most rewarding thing…saving lives”, responded Chief Groat of Platoon 342, EODMU-3, stationed at Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, California.
Yet, most Americans have never heard of EOD. And why, you ask? These guys and gals are the silent heroes, the U.S. Navy’s best kept secret. Working in the background, they get the job done blowing up, or diffusing IEDs and terrorist bombs on land, or underwater in some of the nastiest, toughest terrain and weather conditions.
What a job title. And yet on film, no one’s ever really told their story (the movie The Hurt Locker doesn’t come close). Yet how do you tell the real story without losing life, or limb?
Big Fish Entertainment manned up taking a C-17 transport load of camera gear, SAT phones, Macbook Pro 2.53GHZ laptops, Apple Final Cut Pro 7 software, and Apple iPads to Afghanistan. Last October 2010, a seven-member film crew deployed for six months with EODMU-3. While deployed, they filmed over 4,000 hours of Platoon 342’s daily patrols enduring grueling desert heat, cold sandy nights, and long, 24/7 on-call days. On October 25th, 2011 G4 Network launched the 10-part television series Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan.
MacDirectory (MD): Why did Big Fish want to make this TV series?
Dan Cesareo (DC): Being an EOD tech, the person who diffuses or blows up bombs, has a tough, dangerous job. IEDs are a huge part in the Afghanistan war, and it’s not getting any better. The EOD story is important, so Big Fish Entertainment approached the U.S. Navy.
Lieutenant Bennett (LT): This TV series was a big shift in the Navy’s philosophy. Yet with the IED issue in Afghanistan, the U.S. Navy felt it was important to tell the real story about EOD techs, and their job saving civilian and military lives.
MD: Big Fish uses primarily Macs in your studio?
DC: Absolutely, we are a 100% Mac based company. We use 14 Final Cut Pro (FCP) suites, Xsan, Xserve, etc. Our Macbook Pros running FCP were used extensively in the field for media management and communication.
MD: And the camera crew brought iPads too?
DC: In Afghanistan, iPads were mostly used for entertainment.
MD: The camera crew followed Navy EOD techs, but was stationed on an Army base in Afghanistan. Big Fish must have gone through some red tape to receive clearance.
DC: No kidding. Our team was probably the largest camera crew ever embedded with the military. LT David Bennett helped pull this altogether through the right military channels.
LT: Demonstrating that our professional sailors are fully equipped, manned and ready to complete their jobs was an important message to get across to the U.S. public.
MD: So…where did this adventure begin?
DC: In February 2010, we completed preliminary interviews. In May, Katie Gilbert and I met with the leadership teams of EODGRU ONE and EODMU-3. EODMU-3 was the next unit up to deploy into Afghanistan. By July, our film team had traveled to the Navy’s training facility at China Lake, CA. We filmed some great free fall skydiving. In San Diego, we filmed underwater mine removal footage and yeah, by then our crew team and the EOD techs had become better acquainted. In October 2010, we shipped out on an Air Force C-17 transport ending up at Camp Bob Griffin in northern Afghanistan.
MD: What was a typical day with EOD techs?
DC: Actually, I’ll let Supervising Producer/Cameraman Joe Venafro answer this question.
Missions aside, your typical day started being woken up by either someone else in your tent (snoring) or indirect fire (mortars, AK-fire). That got your adrenaline pumping so much you couldn't go back to sleep. Around 7 AM, you'd walk up to the chow-hall for linked sausage (often cold) and powdered eggs. Most of the time we ate watching reruns of Golden Girls...then back to your tent to make sure camera gear was ready and working (we were on call 24/7), before logging tapes and figuring out the story. All the waiting around to go out and diffuse bombs got to you. Some of us went for runs, others worked out, read, or watched movies.
Lunch usually consisted of MREs (meals ready-to-eat), so we usually skipped it, warding off our hunger with caches of Pop-tarts and Cliff Bars until dinnertime. If it was "Taco Tuesday," you were in luck. Any other night you were gambling with your digestive track. After dinner meant swinging by the mailroom in hopes of getting a care package and checking email. Tuesday and Thursday nights, crewmembers called Dan on their SAT phones and briefed him on production. The day would end hanging with the platoon. After that we'd go to our bunks, wondering when and if a call was coming.
MD: How many missions were filmed? And what safety gear did the camera crew wear?
DC: The crew filmed over 50 missions, and shot over 4,000 hours of footage.
Throughout the whole engagement, EOD focused on the safety of the camera crew and EOD personnel. If it wasn’t safe, they let the crew know. Every day, camera crewmembers had to wear a ballistic helmet, Level 3a Body Armor with side plates and soft armor underneath. And EOD asked them to have a "go-bag", or back-pack containing MREs, bottled water, toilet paper, SAT phone, and survival gear.
Chief Groat (Chief): In each mission, you never knew what to expect, so safety was paramount. None of the cameramen had any prior military experience, so when I said jump, they jumped.
MD: And the EOD techs and crew had some awesome camera gear with body cameras, helmet mounted cameras, plus multiple cameras mounted inside and outside the truck?
DC: All the EOD techs had GoPro HD Hero cameras as chest cams, plus they were mounted all over the JERRV truck exterior. TV Boy in NYC designed three custom camera mounted rigs just for the JERRV interior. Contour HD and Toshiba lipstick cameras were mounted as helmet cams. These were critical to the storytelling, because sometimes cameramen couldn't get out of the truck and follow the EOD techs due to safety concerns. The cameramen used Sony Z7U cameras during the day, Sony A1Us at night, as well as the Canon 5Ds for base scenes and portraits. We came home with upwards of 100 terrabytes of tapeless material on FireWire hard drives.
Chief: It’s crazy technology. I could be 100-200 yards out of the truck, working in the field, yet the mikes made it sound like I was right next to the truck.
MD: You mentioned one vehicle was hit? Big Fish lost some gear?
D.C. and Chief: Yeah, one of the vehicles hit an IED. It’s in the show.
MD: If you knew the U.S. Navy was going to screen and cut footage to restrict classified information and EOD tactics, how did Big Fish know there’d be enough footage for a story?
DC: Good question. When we started, we had no clue what our story would be, or where the camera crew was headed. We just knew that the cameramen and producer would film eight guys with EODMU3. And it was a dangerous job. The story unfolded while we were embedded with the unit, and really, we relied on the producer in field. This series focuses on EOD’s job and how EOD techs save lives.
LT: The Navy’s goal is to educate the public about EOD, and this documentary series demonstrates EOD techs right in the thick of it. They’re doing their job.
MD: There’s been controversy that the TV series might show classified tactical maneuvers that may endanger EOD techs.
DC: Absolutely not. Putting together the missions was a very thoughtful process. We carefully worked around any tactical or security concerns that the Navy and EOD had.
Chief: Anytime we needed the camera crew to stop film, we’d tell them to cut cameras, and they did. No classified information, or professional tactics were filmed that would endanger the lives of EOD techs.
MD: And Big Fish was given creative license to produce the TV series?
DC: After the Navy screened and returned film footage, we got to work using Final Cut Pro 7. All those missions told the real story about EOD.
LT: The producer had been professional in the past, and the U.S. Navy felt she would create a realistic show.
Chief: This TV series will demonstrate the quality and professional training of Navy EODs, and their mission – saving lives, taking care of the stuff that’s killing.
MD: Anything else?
DC: Watch the show.
Chief: Hooyah.
To help injured EOD technicians from all services (U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines), consider supporting the Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation. When injured, all EOD personnel are given financial and personal support. Many thanks to Lead Executive Director Dan Cesareo of Big Fish Entertainment, LT David Bennett, Chief John Groat, and of course, Command Master Chief Lee Morrison of EODMU-3, Group One, Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado. Bravo Zulu.
Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan 10-Part series scheduled October 25th 2011 on G4 TV Network (
