New York ( CNN ) -- Staring down a smoking homemade bomb and dismantling it is dangerous enough . Doing it with news cameras rolling on a busy Saturday night in the middle of Times Square is something Det . Patrick LaScala of the New York Police Department swears never entered his mind . Until the following day . `` You 're home the next day , and you 're really thinking about it . Then , you start to put the pieces together and you think , 'Wow , ' `` LaScala said in an exclusive interview . LaScala was manipulating the police robot that laid the groundwork for one of his partners , Det . Raymond Clair . `` This was the first time that I went down on a vehicle , and I saw clocks and wires and gas and propane . I identified it as a bomb , and I had to look twice , '' Clair said . After 13 years as a bomb tech , that night was the one Clair says he 'll remember the most . Clair and LaScala are part of New York 's elite bomb squad , a unit whose size is a closely guarded secret . CNN was given special access to the unit in order to find out what a more typical day can be like . During one recent 16-hour shift , I watched the same five-man team who worked the bungled bomb plot in Times Square check their equipment , catch up on paperwork and make sure Dan-O , their explosives-sniffing dog , was raring to go . The K-9 is named for a member of the squad who died in the 9/11 attacks when one of the twin towers collapsed . On a busy side street outside their Manhattan offices , neighbors watched them go through their paces with the robot . `` We think they 're great , '' one man said . Another passerby snapped a picture of the robot with her cell phone . `` Is that the robot that checks out bombs ? '' she asked . It was . But robots , as sophisticated as they are , can only do so much . They 're capable of blowing out windows , blasting a suspicious package to bits , photographing an object from several angles and sending those images to investigators . The squad does n't want to publicize more specific details . Still , a human touch often ca n't be avoided . With help , bomb techs first crawl into an 85-pound protective suit that covers their bodies from head to toe . The feet nearly look like those of a platypus , the material is stiff and hot , and the chest plate is heavy . A helmet is cinched on around the neck , and an air hose keeps outside air flowing into the mask . Put on gloves , and it 's hard to imagine that anyone in such bulky gear could maneuver and dismantle possible bomb components . But that 's what they 're trained to do . `` The more you do , and the more you get involved , the better you 'll get when it 's the real thing , '' Clair said . Det . Greg Abbate also was there for the `` real thing '' in Times Square . He said his training kicked in . `` There 's a strong bond between us . We go to a job , there 's very little talk . Everyone knows what they have to do , '' he said . Despite the immense dangers associated with the work , whenever the unit checks out a suspicious package , bomb technicians jockey for the opportunity to suit up . `` We actually have arguments over who 's taking the job , '' added Abbate . When CNN traveled with them on a call , it was Abbate 's turn to wear the gear . The bomb squad was called to check out a backpack found in a park near a police headquarters checkpoint . The team sped to the scene with sirens screaming . Other units ringed the perimeter . X-rays were taken . Abbate moved in . This time , he determined that this time , there was nothing to it . Sgt . John Ryan said it 's necessary to assume the worst until the team moves in . `` Everything is a bomb until we say it 's not a bomb , `` said Ryan . The days are long , but the men say they feel `` blessed '' to be part of the bomb squad . They laugh when people suggest they must be a little crazy to do such a dangerous job . `` It 's an honor , '' LaScala said . And it never gets old . `` At the end of the day , it 's just one day down and a lot more to go , '' said Det . Mike Garcia . CNN producers Julian Cummings and Ross Levitt contributed to this report .
He interviewed the bomb squad that investigated the recent Times Square bombing . Det . Anthony Abbate : ` ` There 's a very strong bond between us '' Despite the dangers , squad members eager to be the one to suit up when a call comes in .