International forces at bomb squad camp

ARMY and police officers from the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland have descended upon the north Cork hills for the first ever international training camp on detecting and dismantling bombs.

Due to the Troubles, the Irish army has a longstanding reputation in countering Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This expertise was further built upon during deployment in Lebanon, Liberia, Kosovo and Chad. With this in mind, the Irish army devised this three-week long training camp aimed at improving detection, avoidance and dismantling of such devices.

All the officers are being taught to best international practice so they could, in theory, be deployed with confidence to hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq. Senior Irish army officers are already deployed in Afghanistan where they are charged with IED strategy.

According to the Irish army, 70% of terrorist attacks are IEDs, we’re told at the Kilworth camp.

An eight-foot table sits in a tent off the Kilworth Camp Barrack. Suicide bomber belts made from plasticine and ball bearings, victim-operated devices made using a Cadburys Roses box or household pegs and garden wire are all scattered upon it.

And then there’s the command operated bombs, beloved of the movies, where with one call to an attached mobile phone, a massacre can ensue.

For the past week, the international armies have been scattered around the Kilworth hills trying to locate devices that have been hidden across the terrain.

A ‘terrorist cell’, made up of seasoned army officers, has been charged with testing their intelligence gathering, technical and strategic skills by attempting to stay 10 steps ahead of them at all times.

“The usage of tactics, techniques and procedures are what we are teaching,” one officer says. There is nothing about this type of warfare that is static, however, as it’s all about the unexpected so once, for instance, terrorists see the army routinely using metal detectors they devise metal-free devices.

It’s the need for fast thinking strategic minds and the human fear factor that made bomb detection a natural subject choice for movies like the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker.

“We’ve noticed a huge improvement over the past week, particularly with the police. Many of the police officers were only used to working in cities but they have clearly learnt a lot,” one officer said.

Some of the Irish army’s top brass are in Cork for the training, including Major General Sean McCann, DCOS Operations, and Director of Ordnance Colonel Brian Dowling.