Defense Technology International - May 2008 - (Page 12)

DISPATCHES GLOBAL PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Training is the key factor in defeating IED threats DAVID ESHEL•TEL AVIV U.S. NAVY echnology plays a crucial role in defeating improvised explosive devices, but training soldiers to identify IEDs, along with those who build and plant them, is the most important way to counter the deadly devices. This was the consensus of speakers at the annual technology outreach conference of the Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (Jieddo). The most important part of counter-IED operations, said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, is “good, oldfashioned training.” Metz, commander of Jieddo, said the group made a $591.3-million budget request for Fiscal 2009 to bolster counterIED training. He told the conference, held Apr. 8 in Denver, that training is critical at all levels, from troops who learn to identify and thwart IEDs while on patrol to officers who piece together intelligence on the networks behind them. Metz said the budget request, if approved, will enhance new and current training efforts. He praised the training troops receive in Kuwait before moving into Iraq, and said Jieddo is funding sim12 T U.S. Navy Seabees test hands of two Iraqis for explosive residue after discovering two IEDs on a nearby road. ilar training in Afghanistan. But Metz wants to boost pre-deployment training, too, so troops arrive in theater with the best skills possible. Navy Capt. Jeff Trumbore, chief of Jieddo’s Technology and Integrations Requirements Div., said the group’s strategy is to focus counter-IED efforts on three tactics: Attack the network, defeat the device, and train the force. Technologies such as signal-jamming systems and airborne surveillance, along with “old school” tactics like increased patrols and sniper teams that lie in wait for insurgents to plant IEDs, have been effective in reducing incidents. Increasing the amount and quality of training will defeat many more bombers. Metz wants troops to know exactly what to look for on patrols. “If someone has been making a homemade explosive, they have been working with acid and most likely their hands are stained. Ni- tric acid comes in black 2-liter bottles,” he said. “So if you’re searching and ﬁnd the owner of a home has stained hands and black bottles of nitric acid in the garbage, you probably have a bomb maker.” For realism, Metz said Jieddo is turning to the gaming industry to develop computer simulations of IED attacks that troops can train with. The organization also helped fund the installation of a cellular phone system at the Army’s National Training Center (NTC) in Ft. Irwin, Calif., so troops can train against “enemies” using cell phones to launch IED attacks. Jieddo also built a replica Iraqi home at the NTC, where troops ﬁne-tune search techniques to identify bomb makers and factories. Counter-IED technology assets include unmanned aerial vehicles, which are successful in persistent surveillance. An initiative that was transferred to the Army last year is Warrior Alpha, a longendurance, multimission UAV based on the General Atomics Predator, which carries intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads. “Putting ISR assets over a target is critical to giving the folks in theater air-detection capabilities,” Trumbore said. New electronic warfare systems are also available, but need to be made userfriendly for regular troops. One example is the Counter Radio-Controlled IED Electronic Warfare (Crew) signal-jamming system that has reportedly cut the number of remote-controlled IED attacks in Iraq in half. Jieddo has funded the purchase of 35,157 Crew units. Between Fiscal 2007 and 2009, Jieddo funded 26 initiatives to assist the services in training. This dramatically increased the ability of warﬁghters to undertake counter-IED initiatives. In the past two years, Jieddo received 1,335 technology initiatives, of which 89 were funded for Joint Urgent Needs of Warfighters. These include armor for vehicles and route-clearance blowers for suspicious roadside litter. Modular mine-roller systems are examples of Jieddo initiatives that help save lives. But much work remains until the IED threat is subdued, Jieddo speakers advised. The long-term threat posed by the explosives requires continuing support from industry and government. ■ AviationWeek.com/dti DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MAY 2008 http://AviationWeek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - May 2008 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Learn and Live Think Again Vive la Difference En Route Out of the Box Package Deal On Watch Inside Job Programs Update The Net Back to the Future Busy Signal Mighty Mites Hull of an Idea Tough Enough Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - May 2008

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