Home-Made Explosives Courses-Basic in Szentendre, Hungary
Homemade explosives are an ever-present threat in the modern world. Despite all the effort done by the governments, the precursors for their manufacture are still available and often accessible by the general public. They are a relatively inexpensive, easy to conceal and powerful weapon in the hands of the perpetrators.
The most effective way, how to counter their use, is to attack the homemade explosives production facilities. The homemade explosives laboratory may resemble a “do it yourself” garage, but it can also look like a dirty kitchen with common kitchen ingredients and tools for cooking or baking. Therefore, each first responder needs to have a basic knowledge of equipment, precursors and of course final homemade explosives products, to be able to identify and confirm any illicit activity.
Based on these facts, the EOD COE Training Branch organized two iterations of the Homemade Explosives Course – basic. The individual courses were performed with the assistance of Subject Matter Experts from Ammunition Testing Centre Novaky and Institute of Energetic Materials (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic).
Both course iterations were performed in the form of a mobile training team within the premises of the the NCO Academy in Szentendre, Hungary. The duration of each course iteration was three days and both iterations were delivered between 4th of September and 14th of September. A total of 32 participants were trained. Most of the participants were the members of Hungarian defense forces (25), but there were also students from Belgium(4), Germany(2) and Poland(1) attending the course.
The students were taught to recognize a homemade explosives laboratory, to recognize different groups of homemade explosives, to understand their sensitivity and performance and of course to take appropriate action after finding them.
All trainees successfully graduated and expressed satisfaction with the content and quality of the Homemade Explosives Course – basic.
The most effective way, how to counter their use, is to attack the homemade explosives production facilities. The homemade explosives laboratory may resemble a “do it yourself” garage, but it can also look like a dirty kitchen with common kitchen ingredients and tools for cooking or baking. Therefore, each first responder needs to have a basic knowledge of equipment, precursors and of course final homemade explosives products, to be able to identify and confirm any illicit activity.
Based on these facts, the EOD COE Training Branch organized two iterations of the Homemade Explosives Course – basic. The individual courses were performed with the assistance of Subject Matter Experts from Ammunition Testing Centre Novaky and Institute of Energetic Materials (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic).
Both course iterations were performed in the form of a mobile training team within the premises of the the NCO Academy in Szentendre, Hungary. The duration of each course iteration was three days and both iterations were delivered between 4th of September and 14th of September. A total of 32 participants were trained. Most of the participants were the members of Hungarian defense forces (25), but there were also students from Belgium(4), Germany(2) and Poland(1) attending the course.
The students were taught to recognize a homemade explosives laboratory, to recognize different groups of homemade explosives, to understand their sensitivity and performance and of course to take appropriate action after finding them.
All trainees successfully graduated and expressed satisfaction with the content and quality of the Homemade Explosives Course – basic.
Text : CPT Ján TARNOCI, SVKA
Photo: SGT Peter BULKO, SVKA
