Pictures: LPhot Sean Gascoigne
SERGEANT Leanne Howard marches down the street to start the initial work of destroying an Improvised Explosive Device, or IED.
Two suspicious packages have been found in a corner shop at the end of ‘Coronation Street.’ But all is not what it seems. Take a peek through the windows of any of the houses and they are only one-room deep. And rather than urban Weatherfield, this Coronation Street is deep in the rural south Warwickshire countryside. Nearby is a railway station, complete with train, next door to a hotel. A school stands near a café; A garage, Army recruiting office, police station and homes are all dotted around. All are props for Armed Forces personnel learning how to deal with IEDs. The idea is to replicate a site where an explosive device may be planted by an individual or terrorist group. The 2,500-acre Defence Munitions Kineton site is one of the homes of, deep breath, the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search Training Regiment – DEMS. The tri-Service regiment comprises a number of instructors, including at Kineton three from the Royal Navy – CPO(D) Ian ‘Shep’ Shepherd, PO(D) Jan Cocking and LD Keith Lister.
DEMS Trg Regt, part of the Royal School of Military Engineering, is the initial provider for all explosive ordnance disposal and search training courses. The regiment is split over two sites – St George’s Barracks at Bicester, where training is given in conventional munitions disposal and at Kineton, which specialises in IEDs. Over the course of a year, 2,600 students will pass through DEMS, taking part in one of the 73 courses offered, with around 600 of those students attending courses at Kineton. There are seven courses running at Kineton. Two eight-week courses run concurrently and interdependently; No1 Operator and No2 Operator. Following theory time in the classroom, students work in teams from across the courses on practical assignments. “It makes us more efficient and people start building relationships,” said Officer in Charge Maj Simon Bratcher. “Whilst it can be a solo game, it is still a team sport.” The students range from junior ranks through to senior ones, with junior ranks having to be able to question the actions of seniors. The experience can vary as well, with some students fairly new to bomb disposal while others have a great deal of experience. “We are also dealing with the idiosyncrasies of all three Services; making sure people in the training environment are respectful and it’s also
about getting the best out of people,” sa Bratcher. “The team is a very important side work. There can be a huge rank range, ho junior ranks need to be able to question ones because there is a lot of stress invo “Every job is different. I could lay one out 100 times and make 100 different sce You can’t follow a flowchart as it not so about the device but the whole situatio operator could be the target, for example “In Iraq it was the type of devices, w Afghanistan it was the sheer number. Yo to be able to cope with all of that.” ‘Explosive’ devices are built and place troop of soldiers, known as the Terrorists make around 5,000 devices a year. Th also responsible for ensuring all devic accounted for at the end of each day. “We can’t use explosives for the traini there may be a buzzer or small flash bulb means to show if they fail,” said PO Co who has been in the RN for 28 years. The pass rate for each course is a 70 per cent, with students who fail giv chance to return and redo the course. It is at Kineton and St George’s Barra Bicester where the Royal Navy’s bomb di experts from the diving world learn their A number of stations are dotted a Kineton, providing a range of scenarios