FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — Thanks to the Oscar-winning movie “The Hurt Locker,” military bomb technicians no longer work in obscurity, but veterans told younger colleagues Wednesday that it is important to capitalize on the public’s interest to ensure support for their work continues.

“EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) has long history. We went through downsizing after the Cold War when we were considered not critical,” said Gary Motsek, assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense and a former military bomb technician.

“But while we weren’t looking, the world changed. The weapon of choice of the enemy today is not a multimillion dollar weapons platform, it is a cheap but accessible IED,” Motsek told a crowd of about 200 gathered for the first day of the three-day Global Ordnance Disposal Conference and Exhibition

EOD technicians have become the tip of the spear in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting troops and investigating the deadly bombs that are the leading killer, Motsek said.

During Iraq and Afghanistan, technicians disarming roadside bombs have become a priority for generals and admirals alike, he said.

“It is amazing that I can go out on the street today and virtually everyone knows what IED and EOD means, but much of that is transitory,” he said. “We need to ensure EOD is part of the future.”

The conference is part of a series of events surrounding Saturday’s memorial ceremony at the Navy-run Explosive Ordnance Disposal School on Eglin Air Force Base, which trains EOD technicians for all branches of the military. The names of 15 U.S. graduates of the school who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last year and one graduate killed while preparing for deployment will be added to the wall.

The 16 names to be added to the wall Saturday represent the largest number of graduates from the school killed in a single year since before the Vietnam War.

Former U.S. Army EOD technicians Gene Squires said alumni decided to organize a conference as part of the 2010 memorial to capitalize on attention from “The Hurt Locker,” the best-picture winning movie about an elite bomb squad working in Iraq in 2004, and on other publicity surrounding EOD work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Proceeds from the more than 50 exhibition booths purchased largely by defense contractors will go in part to the EOD Memorial Committee to help with scholarships for the children of EOD members killed in action and to help families in other ways, he said. And experts speakers from the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, NATO and the defense industry will help highlight the importance of the work of the EOD community.

“We want to avoid the peaks and valleys in interest and in funding for our work that we have seen in the past,” he said.

James Brudenell of the British Royal Air Force serves as a liaison to the NATO EOD working group. Brudenell, who also spoke Wednesday, said that by working to ensure EOD technicians from various NATO countries follow the same procedures in Iraq and Afghanistan, lives have been saved.

“You can take someone from a Dutch team and put them in with a U.S. force and they work together quickly and efficiently,” he said.

NATO EOD teams are playing a crucial role protecting troops and investigating bombings in Afghanistan, he said.

A man climbed a security fence in Nogales, Ariz. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has requested $3 million in federal funding to replace the fence in downtown Nogales. Photo by The Associated Press file

Matt York