EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – When the Academy Award winning best picture “The Hurt Locker,” showcased the dangerous business of defusing bombs in Iraq, actor Jeremy Renner put his acting talents to the test in a portrayal of an Army EOD expert.

But for the son of an Oak Harbor couple, being successful at defusing deadly explosives can mean the difference between life and death.

Navy Seaman Apprentice Anthony J. Yockey, son of Joe and Verna Yockey of Kitsap Terrace, Oak Harbor, is a student at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal School where he will spend close to a year learning the delicate techniques of how to recover, evaluate, safely render and dispose of live ordnance.

For Yockey, paying attention to the details of such things as ordnance identification, disarmament, transportation and disposal, along with such things as rigging principles, recon procedures and biological and chemical training can literally save lives in the very difficult and different battlefield of the 21st Century.

“The training has been challenging, but definitely worth it,” said Yockey, a 2009 graduate of Oak Harbor High School.

The Navy-supported school trains close to 2,000 students each year from all branches of the service. Yockey, like his classmates, volunteered for the difficult school for a reason.

“It sounded like a good job, and it also sounded better than going to college,” said Yockey.

More than just a Hollywood fascination, Yockey and his fellow EOD students feel that what they learn during this extensive training plays an important part of the life they will lead in the military, especially in danger spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

“EOD is very important to clear a path for other military members,” said Yockey.

“I feel that I am getting the finest that the military has to offer, and that I will be well prepared to neutralize a threat and do it safely.”