Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

‘Improvised Explosive Device(IED) terror' improves actual response ability

14 organizations of the ROK Army·Navy·Air Force and the US Navy·Air Force
shared actual IED ordnance techniques
 
Participating organizations assigned roles and reenacted actual situations.

Planting·Disposing training of explosives by turns

The U.S. Air Force introduced examples such as Iraq·Afghanistan, etc.
This will significantly help in predicting and responding to future terror aspect

“Pass! Pass! Pass! A terrorist invaded with a suspected IED!”

On the morning of May 18, against the backdrop of an IED disposal drill field, the ROKAF Education & Training Command(hereinafter referred to as AFETC) was filled with tension. There was a terrorist with an IED who had run into a building. The IED was in a pressure cooker. While the counter-terrorists immediately mobilized to the scene and surrounded the building, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal(EOD) agent of the ROKAF 18th Fighter Wing inspected the inside of the building by flying a drone in the air.

“Field situation check finished! Suppress the terrorist immediately!”

Subsequently, the Special Duty Team(SDT) of the Air Police broke the windows and dashed like a lightning bolt into the office where the terrorist was located with showing their splendid helicopter rappel skills. The terrorist panicked by the lightning-speed movements of the EOD agents was killed without any chances to resist.

Although the terrorist was taken down, the risk of terror was still not over. An IED that the terrorist had planted was found in the office. The EOD agents who entered the building using a rappel technique carefully identified the type and risk level of the IED. Then, they disposed of the explosive using a water disrupter and the situation completely cleared up.

The following afternoon, special IED ordnance disposal training was carried out. In the training, each participating organization took the role of terrorists or counter-terrorists by turns and planted or disposed an IED at the drill field where sets were created to mimic a train, a private house, and a bus, etc. First, the 9th Army Ammunition Depot(AAD) agents planted an IED in the train-shaped field, and the Korea Coast Guard(KCG) agents disposed of it safely. Since then, they changed their roles. The KCG agents planted an explosive and the 9th AAD agents disposed of it. Next, 12 organizations including the U.S. Navy·Air Force and the ROK Naval Special Warfare Flotilla(ROKNSWF), etc. shared their specialized know-how by engaging in the IED planting·disposal training by turns.

On May 18, the Air Force carried out a large-scale joint IED ordnance disposal training at the AFETC IED ordnance disposal drill field organized by the Air Force Operations Command(hereinafter referred to as AFOC).

This training was carried out as a follow-up project to the IED ordnance disposal seminar held by the Ministry of National Defense last year and participated by 14 related organizations including the ROKAF 20th Fighter Wing, the ROKNSWF, the Army Special Operations Command, the KCG, the U.S. Navy·Air Force, and others.

The 8th U.S. Fighter Wing provided an instruction to share their experiences on the actual IED planting cases in Iraq·Afghanistan and ordnance know-how with the Korean forces. The U.S. Air Force introduced the various explosive-planting types that enemies use depending on offensive tactics, how to deal with them and the development aspect of IEDs, etc. in detail. This session was very well-received by the participating organizations such as the Korean Army·Navy·Air Force.

Staff Sergeant Brandon Perrish of the 8th U.S. Fighter Wing, who led the IED instruction, said, “The instruction focused on predicting the future terror aspect and responding to that effectively through learning of actual IED ordnance disposal cases. I’m glad that our combat experiences can help to improve the IED ordnance disposal capability of Korean EOD agents.”

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Dong-woo, a logistics operation chief of AFOC, who arranged this joint training session, said, “We cannot say that Korea is safe from terror threats with IEDs. IED are in various types and they are being developed at rapid rates, so it is important for the relevant organizations to share the latest information and accumulate actual disposal experiences through training.”

By Sang-Yun, Kim < ksy0609@dema.mil.kr >
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