Preventing Chemical IEDs: Federal agents train JBER EOD and local first responders

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Omari Bernard
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The Anchorage division of the FBI hosted an improvised explosives demonstration on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on June 26. The demonstration was part of Chemical Industry Outreach Workshop under the National Improvised Explosive Familiarization training program.

John Bates, FBI supervisory special agent, explained what the NIEF program was about.

"NIEF is a three-day program the FBI uses to teach not only military explosive ordinance disposal technicians, but also state and local bomb technicians," Bates said. "The first two days are specific to EOD and bomb technicians where we teach them about precursors and chemicals that can be purchased in the market place at common retailers."

Bates taught that these chemicals have legitimate purposes in the real world but can be used to create explosives as well.

"We teach them what to look for and how to create them," Bates said. "They actually get hands-on experience making these charges. The third day is the CIOW. That's where we bring in everyone. They go through an abridged training where they learn about the chemicals as well but get no hands-on experience."

Derek Espelend, special agent bomb technician of the FBI Anchorage Division, trained Army and Air Force EOD technicians on the types of explosives encountered by public safety and law enforcement personnel.

Espelend described the different effects in blast pressure, incendiary thermal effect and chemicals that create rapid fires versus immediate combustion. Espelend and other FBI agents executed the explosions while students were at a safe distance.

"Today was training on improvised explosives and chemical mixtures frequently found in terrorist and criminal activity," Espelend said. "These are chemical precursors that can be purchased from a variety of retail outfits and Internet sources. The training is to make people who may encounter these sources in a law enforcement environment or in the course of the duties as a first responder, so they understand the hazards and the dangers of these chemicals if they are mixed in a certain fashion."

JBER EOD and local first responders were taught about the kinds of products, ones typically found under kitchen sinks and in garages, that can burn or explode when combined, and how to disrupt or dismantle devices that use such products.

Attendees of the demonstration witnessed more than a dozen examples of improvised explosive and incendiary mixtures used by terrorists around the world. There were also subject-matter experts on hand to discuss the threat posed by the readily available chemical precursors for these mixtures.

"The goal here is to get the information out to as many people as possible that this is a problem," Espeland said. "This is a worthwhile workshop to bring bomb technicians and first responders together, folks who are in the chemical industry that sell these products and market them so they understand the products they have on their shelves so if they see particular shoppers decide to buy a whole bunch of this stuff or anything that looks suspicious to them, they contact law enforcement, so we could possibly prevent a bombing."

NIEF is a nationwide program offered by the FBI. Participants in the training receive in-depth instruction and course materials in accordance with their respective roles, responsibilities and technical certifications. The benefit of the training is to enhance awareness and outreach programs to first responders, and to inform private sector wholesalers, distributors and retailers of precursor chemicals that can be used by terrorists or experimenters to make improvised explosives.

"Improvised explosives can be manufactured from many chemicals and common household items that are generally benign in nature, but when mixed in the proper ratio with other chemicals may become a deadly explosive." Espelend said. "The course is to provide bomb technicians and investigators firsthand experience of what the different chemicals look and smell like to assist them in future investigations."