Page 90 - SyI Quarterly - Q3 and Q4 Edition 2023

Chartered Security Professionals

Optimise Performance and Output of EOD Assets

Michael Brown CSyP

Specifically, in the field of Explosive Threat Mitigation (ETM), Search training will inevitably take
investment of both time and money, but it will optimise performance and will dramatically increase the
level of confidence and improve mission success. In fact, a Search capability should be seen as a true
Force Multiplier. Most world-leading militaries and leading Mine Action organisations utilise a Search
capability, and a growing number of Law Enforcement agencies have similar capabilities as well.
However, there are some notable omissions from this list and one of the aims of this article is to raise
awareness and highlight how Search trained personnel will unquestionably add value. After all, 90% of
EOD is finding the item for disposal. Any improvement in finding items is a logical way to deliver
Continual Professional Development (CPD) for any EOD / Bomb Tech, including those in the Law
Enforcement community.

Search is a diverse subject, which is difficult to fully capture concisely. It has been a specialist role for the
Military (mainly Combat Engineers), as well as a secondary role for other Military personnel. Compared to
EOD, there are very few words written on Search. Once an item has been found, all the methodologies,
strategies, planning, analysis, detection, location, and confirmation are too easily forgotten. Searchers
are therefore unaccustomed to the limelight and work best as part of a team.

What is Search?

Search in simplistic terms is the act of finding stuff (usually important stuff). A lifelong friend and highly
experienced and decorated EOD operator once called Search teams the ‘invisible shield’ for operators
and thanked them for watching his 6. High praise indeed. “Search is an activity and not an output.” But
this activity is often the one that gets people injured and slows down tasks, with missing items often
being the difference between mission success and failure. Therefore, increasing the percentage chance
of finding the item must be a good thing.

Organisations that have developed, trained, and equipped Search teams have a capability that is far
greater than the sum of their parts. They have a mission planning and executing element that can
successfully deliver the mission intent with the minimum amount of manpower, using techniques that
optimise success and ensure minimum exposure to hazards. A Search team also records a
documented account of how the operation was conducted, often to a standard admissible in a court of
law.

A very good friend of mine (and highly experienced IED operator) summaries the above by stating “How
many people have been killed from a device they knew was there?” I still think that this statement is the
basis of what Search is all about: finding the stuff is the difficult bit.

A Brief History

During World War 1 (WW1), the role of device emplacement and detection developed whilst
capturing enemy tunnels or losing one’s own. During any withdrawal, both British and German forces
started to use mining and demolitions stores along with improvised switches to create explosive
ordnance (EO) devices. To counter this threat, Royal Engineer tunnellers were trained to systematically
search areas and use a lifeline (hook and line) to pull obstructions and render safe devices. As the war
became more mobile, the tunnellers began to operate in the trenches as the first Search and disposal
experts of WW1.

90