Posted on 12/17/2005 3:58:53 AM PST by xzins
Fla. Base Set to Open New School on IEDs
By MELISSA NELSON Associated Press Writer
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) -- With more American soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan from hidden bombs, the military hopes a new advanced explosives school will help troops to detect and disarm the deadly devices.
The military showed off X-ray cameras, chemical sensors and advanced robotics Friday, while the military's top bomb-disposal instructors demonstrated some of the latest techniques in combating deadly improvised explosive devices.
The new Advanced Explosives Device Disposal School at Eglin Air Force Base officially opens next month. Explosives experts from all military branches will attend the specialized training.
Because many of the instructors will return to combat soon, the military required they be identified only by their service branch and military rank.
The school, which offers advanced training for leaders of explosives disposal teams, is unique because it includes a replica of a town for soldiers to go in and out of buildings and practice locating and disarming bombs in realistic settings.
At the school's fake airport, a soldier in a 75-pound bomb disposal suit used an upright motorized scooter to travel from an equipment van to the building. Once inside, he used a portable X-ray camera to take a picture of a bomb at a security check point. He wheeled back out, and conferred with other team members about disarming the bomb. The X-ray picture quickly provided a detailed view of the small canister and the wires contained within.
Soldiers said the airport is especially important because of domestic terrorist threats. The realistic feel of the building helps heighten his students' senses, an instructor said.
"We want there to be as much realism as we can give them," he said.
The airport's nonfunctioning baggage carousel has a sign warning parents not to let children climb on its belts. The ticket counter includes a Delta Air Lines flight departure board. There are even directions posted to ground transportation.
The town also includes a bank, a school, a newspaper office, a farmhouse and a gas station.
An Army sergeant using a robot to remove a backpack from a library table, said the authentic feel of the training buildings is especially important.
"The hardest thing when you get out there in the world, is everything around you," he said. "The biggest problem at an incident site isn't the device, we know how to deal with that, it's everything else."
The library includes shelves of books, reading tables and a checkout counter.
The sergeant said his bomb disposal missions in Iraq often involved situations like the one acted out at the library on Friday. In Iraq, removing bombs without damaging buildings was just as important as saving lives because damage could also constitute a victory for terrorists, he said.
A second team member communicated with the soldier in the library from an equipment van outside and looked at pictures transmitted by the robot. In a real situation, the team could have disarmed without having to go inside the building.
"We always prefer to use robots first because we can protect lives," one team member said.
The nine instructors at the school include three from the Army, three from the Air Force, two from the Navy and one Marine. Each class lasts three weeks. Navy Lt. Dave Blauser, the officer in charge of the school, said his instructors are among the most highly trained bomb technicians in the military.
As the number of troops killed by IEDs climbs, the military's Joint IED Taskforce, which includes the school, is constantly looking at ways the counter the threat by training how to detect and avoid the devices, Blauser said.
Despite the advances, average soldiers on the ground in Iraq can do little to avoid the devices, said a Navy petty officer who is an instructor at the school.
"We are trying to keep people alive here and trying to mitigate all of the dying," he said.
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If this statement is true...
"Despite the advances, average soldiers on the ground in Iraq can do little to avoid the devices, said a Navy petty officer who is an instructor at the school"
then why the dog and pony show with robots, x-ray machines etc??
Because it impresses the uninitiated.
I always hated the Pentagon for disclosing so many sensitive information that could hint the enemy. It is better with more being classified compared tot the following years, but I'm still not satisfied with this level. You always want the enemy to know less.
Why the training?
Because these are the experts...the bomb disposal people.
It DOES work for them. The comment about the average soldier says that this high tech solution is not in use by the everyday soldier.
Over time, though, this info has a way of filtering down.
Not a bad idea.. with emphasis on how to build and deploy them ourselves. . They appear to be a good tool.. and could be used to opposite effect.. There are many ways our forces could use them(IEDs).. If only to give the bad guys a bad name.. For everyone would assume it was THEM(the bad guys) doing it.. Also teaching the Iraqis to FRAG supected terrorists in their midst.. couldn't hurt either..
Hopefully, the rank and file will start using their heads while on patrol. Things like:
The info that I'm getting from people still in Iraq tells me that the terrorists are still command detonating. That is as low tech as it gets. Unfortunately, it is as reliable as it gets, too.
Thank you for your service to the troops, Father. Phone tents and MWR are nothing compared to the comfort that you guys bring.
Good to meet you, TH. I had a brief stint at the DAC in OK once upon a time.
I pray that your expertise works its way down to the troops.
(BTW....I like your handle..:>)
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