Posted on 10/02/2006 5:51:14 PM PDT by SandRat
BASRAH -- One of the greatest threats to the security of Iraq, and a common tactic of terrorists and insurgents, is the use of improvised explosive devices and mines.
Wearing an advanced bomb protection suit, an Iraqi Bomb Disposal School student attempts to connect a “pull-rope” to an improvised explosive device during a field exercise. Photo taken by By U.S. Navy Journalist 2nd Class John J. Pistone, MNSTC-I Public Affairs.
The majority of casualties suffered by Coalition and Iraqi Forces are mostly from some form of IEDs, vehicle borne IEDs and suicide bombs. There is an additional threat in Iraq by way of minefields, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war.
In an ongoing effort to change this, the Iraqi Bomb Disposal School, located near Basrah, currently trains army and police personnel committed to combating the use of IEDs and other explosive devices. Iraqi Army Lt. Col. Foad, commander, Iraqi Army Bomb Disposal Company, 4th Division, said he believes the school is vital to the war against the insurgency.
“In order for us (Iraqis) to defeat the insurgency we have to be able to safely detect and destroy the bombs and IEDs these criminals use,” Foad said with the help of an interpreter. “The future of our nation depends on us being able to stop these activities. This is why this school is important.”
According to Army Maj. Donald R. Weakley, Coalition liaison officer for BDS, soldiers and police officers endure an intensive 12-week course before certification as bomb disposal technicians.
“The bomb disposal field is very technical. One mistake or error in judgment could be catastrophic,” Weakley said. “This is why the courses here at the school are very extensive; the students not only have to complete numerous hours of classroom work, but they have to pass several rigorous field tests as well.”
Weakley said the bomb disposal profession is time consuming and requires someone with a lot of patience.
“Some of the scenarios taught here involve clearing mine fields, clearing buildings and disabling IEDs,” he said. “The tactics for successfully accomplishing these tasks require a lot of time.”
Clearing a mine field, building or any other area requires careful planning and a controlled, systematic approach, according to Weakley. Teams use various techniques and equipment to ensure the search is safe. He explained that students, for example, use an expedient marking method to identify cleared areas.
“During clearance of access routes and areas, marking is progressively positioned and deployed to ensure safety of the clearance operators and of the public,” Weakley said. “This marking is sometimes in the form of stones that signify the delineation between safe and unsafe areas. This is not something you want to rush, and so this alone could take hours,” he explained.
When students find ordnance in a mine field, they stand up, raise their arm and shout “Mine,” signifying to the unit commander that they have found something. The commander then makes the decision as to whether to move or destroy the ordnance.
According to Weakley, the average drop rate of the class is somewhere between 30 and 40 percent, which is comparable to the EOD school in the U.S. He said the school offers Level III training for the Iraqi Army Bomb Disposal companies only, and consists of trauma first aid, ordnance identification, minefield and other area clearance operations and demolitions courses.
Level IV training, attended by both Iraqi soldiers and policemen, includes advanced instruction in the areas of guided weapons and air-dropped bombs, in addition to working with specialized equipment such as x-ray machines, bomb suits and remote controlled robots. Students also focus on forensics collection and blast scene analysis.
According to Weakley, all of the training is scenario-based – created from reports of actual events. As a result, students learn to treat every field exercise as if they were responding to a real event.
Iraqi Army Capt. Ziad, the executive officer of the school, said this is a very important aspect of the training.
“Our students are taught to treat every class as if they were responding to a real event so they don’t take the training lightly,” Ziad said with the help of an interpreter. “Fellow Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of some of these events; our work is serious and we should be too.”
Weakley said that some of the current students are being trained as instructors for future iterations.
“The majority of the current instructors are civilian contractors, but as of June 2007, the school will be operated entirely by Iraqi Army and Police instructors,” Weakley said. “This is a positive step for the Iraqi Security Forces.”
Evenin' Rat.....
Stick me on your list, if you'd be so kind!
Your on it now
That's a dangerous job, I'm glad there are so many people willing to do it.
Man, I don't care how 'advanced' that suit is, I don't think you stand a chance if the thing goes off unless it is tiny. Doesn't matter if it keeps you from being punctured. The high acceleration will probably do you in.
Any experts out there?
Right Wing Assault has a technical question for you.
Pretty soon [if not already] the excremists will shift to the detonating systems which include tampering sensors. I'd say, blow from the distance, and count collateral damage as a benefit - what better inducement to inform on IEDs and IED makers?
This does not stop IEDs.
Public hanging of those who make and place them and the destruction of their homes will.
After our first EOD tech was killed by a booby trapped IED we got Air Force EOD who used the robot to blow everything up. Screw recovering an IED-that is what got SSG Eric Steffeney killed. Even then the USAF EOC techs had several close calls. You can't always use an HE round-depending on conditions, but the robot and some C4 is the safest way for everyone involved. We had five soldiers from our squadron killed by IEDs in out time in Iraq-it isn't worth it to mess around with them.
EOD says the only difference between wearing the bomb suit and not wearing the bomb suit is the difference between an open casket and closed casket funeral.
Thanks 91B and EOD. Sad, but that's what I figured. I've never been anywhere near one, but if they can throw a heavy armored vehicle in the air, an armored human wouldn't stand a chance.
ping
Then have a vehicle carrying [like a bulldozer blade, but at , say, 10-15 feet distance] a horizontal rapidly rotating drum with heavy chain flails to beat the crap out of everything in its path. And the explosion, if any, will happen under - and ahead of - the flails of the drum, with the chains filtering and dissipating any shaped charge jet. Such a vehicle will even have multiple uses, being also applicable to crowd control.
Damn! I bet!
Its good for the little stuff, but it could hinder your freedom of movement.
I would agree with that.
The bad guys also put IEDs to the side, maybe you get the gunner, maybe some shrapnel goes through the door or ballistic glass. We have some effective countermeasures against IEDs (and IEDs that go off under vehicles are especially dangerous) but a vehicle such as you suggest would probably not be very effective patrolling in urban areas.
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