PRINT ADS

Lt. Gerald Hundt leads explosive ordnance disposal at the Dane County Sheriff's Office. The bomb squad, eight officers plus K-9 Dani and her handler, serves 26 counties, including La Crosse County. Hundt has been with the sheriff's office for 22 years and took command of the bomb squad in 2001.

Q: What was your role during the recent Madison bomb scares?

A: Our unit was requested on two occasions to respond to the Capitol Square to assist the Madison Police Department with suspicious items. Upon our arrival, we conducted render-safe' procedures on various items deemed to be of a suspicious nature.

Q: How does one become head of a bomb squad? What is the training?

A: Per FBI guidelines, a bomb squad commander must be a certified bomb technician of supervisory rank within a public safety organization. All bomb technicians are trained and certified through the FBI at the Hazardous Devices School in Huntsville, Alabama ...The training itself requires an overall working knowledge of electronics, physics, chemistry, pyrotechnics and explosives.

Q: How many ordnance disposal calls does Dane County have in a year?

A: Our bomb squad averages approximately 150 calls for service annually. ... Bomb squads respond to calls for old military ordnance within homes, old dynamite or detonators located on farms, chemicals that have the potential to detonate, disposal of illegal pyrotechnics, and any form of improvised explosive device.

Q: Do you get scared for yourself and your team?

A: Not really. Over the unit's 38-year history, which began with the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970, our bomb squad has attained a national reputation for having some extremely knowledgeable and proficient bomb technicians.

Q: What has been your scariest moment?

A: Parasailing in the Bahamas and having one of the straps break off on my harness.