From BES, I "Set password and lock handheld" - accidently. Now the people have to put in a password whenever they boot up. Anyway to back this out?

You can't turn off the password prompt from BES. Once you enable it, it can only be disabled from the handheld itself.

I'm a newby. How would you go about removing the pw requirement on the actual bb?

Depends on the particular Blackberry and what OS version is installed on it.

Typically, the setting is in:
Options > Password
or
Options > Security Settings > General Settings

Brilliant - you saved my butt!