The first EOD COE´s „Home-Made Explosives Course – Basic“ Mobile Training Team successful outside Slovakia

All three runs of this course, each lasting for three days, were held on the premises of the 15th Engineer Regiment in Bechyne (CZE) on 01-04 and 07-11 April 2014.

Over this 9-day period the EOD COE instructors, together with the subject matter experts from the Ammunition Testing Centre (Novaky, Slovakia) and Institute of Energetic Materials (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic), taught the trainees to effectively recognize and visually identify the telltale signs of the home-made explosives, their precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment. Great emphasis was as well placed on making the students aware of the individual steps of improvised manufacture of chlorate, perchlorate, nitrate, nitromethane and peroxide-based home-made explosives. During the „hands-on“ phase of the course the trainees took advantage of the opportunity to mix selected improvised secondary explosives, under the supervision of instructors, and then watch and differentiate their effects. The knowledge acquired throughout the theory was also utilized effectively by each student during the scenario-based recognition and identification of the clandestine HME laboratories. Last but not least, the students took a chance to theoretically and practically familiarize themselves with the „Bulk material identification kit“ Ai-HME-001 (by American Innovations, Inc.) targeting Nitrate & Chlorate HME precursors.

All 44 graduates found this HME Basic Course highly beneficial and articulated their desire to attend the second level of this education – HME advanced course – in the future. The course delivery by means of the EOD COE Mobile Training Team (MTT) proved a complete success and its secondment to another country in 2015 and onwards is already under consideration.

Author: CPT Petr Tomiczek (CZE-A), HME Course Leader