Photo By Sgt. Andrew Cortez | U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Nathanael Douglas, an explosive ordnance disposal technician...... read more read more
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U.S. Marine explosive ordnance disposal technicians are responsible for ensuring service members can safely train on ranges at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, but also regularly respond to calls beyond training ranges. EOD Marines have been called to respond to bomb threats or suspicious packages on base, as well as military unexploded explosive ordnance calls out in town.
To better help the Marines keep Camp Pendleton safe, EOD partners up to train with many local law enforcement agencies.
Recently, EOD Marines and the FBI teamed up together to do a Large Vehicle Bomb Post-Blast Analysis course, Jan. 24-27. The course was roughly a week long and consisted of several days of class work and then actual controlled detonations for students to analyse afterward.
“For this evolution of training we are trying to simulate a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device that detonated at the gates of Camp Pendleton,” said U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Andrew Duggan, an EOD team leader with EOD Section, Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “If this were a real event, these people would be the exact people responding to that event with us.”
Camp Pendleton was utilized for the scenario because of its diverse training areas and capabilities. The course involved detonating a 250-pound explosive in an armored vehicle, and a 50-pound explosive in a pickup truck. The FBI typically relies on military bases to do this type of training because other government training areas don’t have the same capacity to support it.
“One of the main reasons we use military ranges is because they have the ranges to support the class,” said Rick Snachez, a special agent bomb technician for the FBI. “The normal demolition ranges the government has are way too small and are limited to one-pound detonations.”
The course focused collecting attack-related material such as device components, casualty information and explosive residue following a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack. The course started with an in-class powerpoint on everything the students should look for when it comes to collecting evidence. The class also went over historic attacks involving VBIEDs such as the World Trade Center, Tanzania and Kenya. The following day, the EOD Marines detonated vehicles at Range 800 on Camp Pendleton. Lastly the students went out to the blast site and collected the evidence to make their analysis on what happened on the scene.
“What they are looking for is the actual device used to detonate the explosive so we can send it back to forensics to get analyzed,” said Sanchez. “They also look for vehicle parts such as (vehicle identification) numbers so they can track down the vehicle to get a lead on the investigation to solve the crime.”
This is the first time the class has been given in Southern California and is the first time the FBI has come onto Camp Pendleton to do this course.
“This is the furthest south we have ever been in California, and we look forward to continuing doing operations with Camp Pendleton,” said Sanchez. “ Once the doors are open to Camp Pendleton, we would like to keep them open and maintain a good working relationship.”
Marines with EOD do not work with the FBI very often. With EOD regularly going out in town to recover unexploded ordnance, strengthening the relationships with outside counterparts improves the process.
“You understand that you have professional working relationships,” said Duggan. “And once you have that and build that trust, when it comes time to work together it's that much more seamless.”
| Date Taken: | 01.28.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2022 19:07 |
| Story ID: | 413663 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDELTON , CA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Marines, FBI train to investigate VBIED blasts, by Sgt Andrew Cortez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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