Disarming a DIY bomb
Improvised bombs are a regular feature in world news reports. Private John Wellfare finds out how the people called on to deal with them are trained.

Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School instructors, from left, David Martin, SGT Craig Griffin, SGT David Harvey and SGT Graeme Perry look over some of the training aids used in the classroom.

Instructor CPL Paul Whitton enters a room in full bomb suit after using a remote-controlled robot to neutralise a suspicious device in one of the school’s training buildings.

THERE’S plenty for an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operator to think about when he’s called out to investigate an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Although all bomb disposal carries some inherent dangers, the experts rate IEDs as the worst, and the figures from current operations in countries like Iraq support that opinion.

The difference between disposing of an unexploded bomb and dealing with an IED lies in the makers’ intent, according to Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School (DEOTS) instructor Sergeant John Castelo.

An aircraft bomb, regardless of whether or not it has malfunctioned, was never designed to go off while sitting stationary in the ground.

On an IED callout, the operator has to determine the bomb-maker’s intent, and there are plenty of options to choose from.

“Obviously [the operator] is going to be looking for booby traps and whether it is the only device,” Sergeant Castelo says.

“Why is the device placed there? Is it to take out a building, to cause destruction or injuries to personnel? Or is it to lure him in to take the operator himself out?”

The IED Disposal Operator Course is a five-week program to teach disposal of IEDs.

When it comes to dealing with improvised devices, students on the course are taught to find out as much about the device as possible – including gathering information from intelligence sources to determine the capabilities of likely bomb makers.

“[Students] are trained to take an x-ray of a device,” Sergeant Castelo says.

“By looking at the X-ray, they can interpret what the device actually consists of – whether it’s an explosive device, whether it has shrapnel or whether it’s just a blast-effect device.

They can identify components of it so they can get an understanding of how it works, what the target was and what the bomb-maker was intending to do.

“That gives them the knowledge to be able to hopefully defeat it in a safe manner.”

The students have to learn to deal with pressure, think on their feet and solve
complex problems for which a wrong choice could be fatal.

They need to be able to interpret eye-witness reports, ask the right questions and use a witness’s answer to decide what equipment and techniques they’ll need to get the job done.

The school has been developing a mock township, in which students are tested on their ability to respond to a call-out, locate the device and dispose of it safely.

Just as newly trained operators enter a trade with no room for error, instructors have to get it right all the time. Otherwise, the students they graduate may not survive their first live callout.

“You’ve got to maintain the safety and integrity of what you’re doing at all times,” Sergeant Castelo says. “You’ve got to be aware that the information you’re passing on to [the students], if it’s the wrong information, it could, in
the future, cause them harm.

“There’s a bit of pressure on the instructor to make sure that he gets everything right all of the time, otherwise it can have big ramifications down the line.”

DEOTS is not the only place ADF members learn IED disposal – the Army Logistic Training Centre in Bandiana, Victoria, trains Army EOD operators and, by early next year, will be working from the same training program as DEOTS.

 

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