Bomb expert honoured for bravery

A bomb disposal operator serving in Northern Ireland is to receive the George Medal at Buckingham Palace for what has been described as "outstanding bravery".

Gary O'Donnell goes back to Afghanistan later this year

Gary O'Donnell has been given this gallantry award for his work in manually neutralising bombs in Iraq last year.

BBC Radio Ulster reporter Maryann Maguire spoke to him about what the medal means.

"I don't think of the possible consequences of what I am doing when I'm on task," says Gary O'Donnell.

"I'm not scared. I have an awareness of the capabilities of the various groups. We all see what they can do when we watch TV and see what is happening in Iraq.

"So, I don't get complacent because that's when mistakes are made but at the same time, I don't feel any fear", he insists.

The 38-year-old Edinburgh man became an ammunition technician when he was in his 20s.

After lighting up audiences with his rock band Free and Easy in Scotland, it was in Belfast during the first of four tours that he decided he wanted to work in bomb disposal.

"I've never looked back", he says.

Since then, he's spent the equivalent of three years in Northern Ireland and has worked in Sierra Leone, the Falklands and Germany.

As he walks the red carpet in Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, Gary O'Donnell will be a far cry from the dusty streets of Al Basra.

He has demonstrated consistent bravery in rendering safe devices intended to kill and maim by a highly sophisticated enemy Military citation

It is for his work in this southern province that he has been awarded the George Medal.

The citation describes his actions as "showing selflessness and composure in challenging and distressing situations".

It goes on: "He has demonstrated consistent bravery in rendering safe devices intended to kill and maim by a highly sophisticated enemy.

"It is without question that he saved lives whilst risking his own and is worthy of true recognition."

In most instances, bombs are first made safe by a robot, known in military circles as the "wheelbarrow", a reference to the first piece of equipment operators had in the early 1970s

But things in Iraq were often different.

"Unfortunately with the dust, the sand, the heat and the landscape, we didn't always have that remote capability.

"The wheelbarrow couldn't get to where it was needed or it was only lasting a few minutes or so because motors would overheat."

In some cases, Gary O'Donnell had to approach bombs and other devices that had been primed and dismantle them himself, manually, under the lurking eye of insurgents who often choose this moment to trigger their device by using a mobile phone or transmitter.

He has been awarded the George Medal for two particular incidents.

In the first, he helped ensure the safety of 4,000 personnel in Basra air station after a rocket and firing system were found.

The timer was ticking. He had to physically approach the rocket and render it safe.

I can guarantee that any other ammunition technician with my training in similar circumstances would have done the same thing Gary O'Donnell

In the second incident, he neutralised a bomb made of 23 large anti-personnel and anti-vehicle explosive charges.

He approached it, knowing it could go off at any minute, and stripped it down by hand.

It took him over four hours in a protective suit in temperatures of 50 degrees.

He did it in a way that allowed maximum forensic evidence to be collected.

"The George Medal means so much to me," he said.

But he admits he still has difficulty accepting it.

"When I left that tour in Iraq, I wasn't aware that I had done anything particularly special

"I can guarantee that any other ammunition technician with my training in similar circumstances would have done the same thing.

"At the end of the day, our job is about saving people's lives and property."

He says he will be thinking of close friends he has lost and his family and children who will be with him in London.

He will then spend the remainder of his tour in Northern Ireland before deploying to Afghanistan in May where he says the insurgents will be very different to those he faced in Iraq.

"The devices are different. The groups are different. So there are a whole lot of challenges out there that I can't wait to rise to."