The Chemical Biological Incident Response Force Color Guard honors the memory of Lance Cpl. Terry E. Honeycutt, Jr., during a building dedication ceremony Aug. 7 at The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technical Divisions’ Explosives Department Facility Administration Building and Change House. Sgt. Kuande Hall/Marine Corps
The Navy organization responsible for leading the Defense Department’s explosive ordnance disposal research and development recently dedicated its administration building to a Marine killed in combat in Afghanistan.
The Explosive Development Facility Administration Building and Change House in Indian Head, Md., was dedicated Aug. 7 to Lance Cpl Terry Edward “T.J.” Honeycutt, Jr. who was killed in Oct. 27, 2010 from wounds sustained during combat in Helmand province. Honeycutt, a Charles County, Md., resident deployed with 2nd Battlaion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Lance Cpl. Terry E. Honeycutt Jr. of Waldorf, Md.
Honeycutt’s former unit commander, Lt. Col. Jim Fullwood, spoke at the ceremony.
“When T.J. deployed to Afghanistan in June 2010, our battalion was sent to Northern Marja, which at the time was the most hostile area of Afghanistan,” Fullwood said, according to a Navy news release. “It had been a base of operations for the Taliban for many years prior. T.J.’s company was placed in the roughest part. Until the day T.J. was killed in action, he carried out hundreds of patrols and fought daily battles. That’s what Marines do.
Fullwood said the work of Honeycutt and other Marines transformed that area.
“The difference he made to that troubled piece of Afghanistan was seen during our next deployment to Marja. Before, it had been the ulcer of Afghanistan. When we returned, it had become a model for the rest of the country. Where the government and Afghan forces could not travel before in the areas T.J. patrolled, they now travel freely. Where children were unable to attend school, schools now flourish. Where the Afghan government could not reach, they now provide services. These were all changes brought on by the unselfish dedication of Lance Cpl. T.J. Honeycutt.”
The building, under Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, serves as a facility for the development of “information and technological solutions [Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen] need to detect/locate, access, identify, render safe, recover/exploit, and dispose of both conventional and unconventional explosive threats.”
Products developed in the building where employees work on pressed explosives are used in a wide variety of munitions and support Marine operations worldwide, according to a Navy fact sheet.
1 Comment
Thank you for helping us spread the word about the Honeycutt building dedication!
Here’s a little more information on our command, in addition to the EOD work we do.
Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, or NSWC IHEODTD, is a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command and part of the Department of the Navy’s science and engineering enterprise.
We are the cradle-to-grave leader of knowledge, tools, products, and equipment for energetics, energetic materials, and EOD.
Our employees working in the newly dedicated Honeycutt building (which is on our energetics research “side of the house”) are the Navy’s experts on processing pressed, melt cast, and castable plastic-bonded explosives. These men and women develop formulations, establish loading procedures, and increase product sensitivity properties to make explosives safer to process and handle.