Page 89 - SyI Quarterly - Q3 and Q4 Edition 2023

Chartered Security Professionals

Optimise Performance and

Output of EOD Assets

(The invisible shield for EOD operators & Bomb Techs)

Michael Brown CSyP - Major “Ginge” Brown

Ginge is about to retire from the British Army after 38 years
of service. He has been working globally at a senior level in
explosive threat mitigation, and is a highly experienced Search
consultant working with all levels of the Military (incl Special
Forces), civilian law enforcement, and other government
agencies. An operationally tested EOD and IEDD operator and an
experienced executive coach and mentor, he regularly delivers
strategic advice to Senior Investigating Officers on specialist
capabilities, training, and countering new and emerging threats.
He is an expert adviser for the UK National Crime Agency and
has championed and developed international training initiatives
worldwide. He’s been commended on the operational honours
list, and decorated by the Queen, the US Military, and the US
Secret Service for his work.

As EOD operators and bomb techs we are trained to focus on the target, but what do we do if the
immediate target area has been dealt with, or the target can’t be found and the intelligence says
the threat is still there? Search training can and will optimise operational performance and output.
It will dramatically increase the percentage chance of success on complex serious crime, Counter
Terrorist (CT), Humanitarian Demining (HD), and commercial land release tasks – FACT! The quote
below helped me through the last three decades and I hope it helps others to understand why I have
written this article:

“Fools learn by experience; I prefer to learn from the experience of others”
Otto Von Bismark

Introduction

I started my Search career back in 1988 and like a lot of UK Searchers back then I worked in support
of EOD / IEDD operators, which inevitably led me to become an advanced EOD operator in 2000 and
then an IEDD operator in 2001. My Search pedigree remained intact, and as we all know, a key phase
of any EOD task is to locate the item, even the NATO doctrine states Phase 1 of the 10 phases of EOD
is Search. We know the outcome of EOD is disposal, but this is only really the last 10% of the job.

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