Crude but deadly: JIEDDO chief seeks help as roadside bombs plague Afghanistan.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Countering IEDs

* FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla -- Army Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, the new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, wants contractors, small businesses, or inventors working in their basements to come forward with any devices or thoughts on how to defeat roadside bombs.

"We certainly welcome anybody who thinks they have a good idea," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Association of the U.S. Army winter symposium. "We will certainly look at every one of them. We don't want to place any obstacles against an idea. We will look at almost anything and provide an assessment back."

As the Afghan surge continues, Oates and JIEDDO have an all new problem set. IEDs, which were a scourge in Iraq, are now taking a high toll in Afghanistan.

They are cruder than what Iraqi insurgents used, but are proving to be just as deadly, he said. These so-called "pressure plate explosives" are made from two thin pieces of wood that when stepped on, come together and trigger an explosion. Like landmines, they are "victim activated," meaning a vehicle must drive over them or a person must step on them to set the devices off. Along with U.S. forces, Afghan men, women and children are stepping on the devices, which is rarely reported in the press.

"It's about the crudest form of detonation capability you can find," he said.

The explosives are not unused artillery shells, as they were in Iraq, but made from common fertilizers. Ultimately, this and the low metallic content makes the Afghan version of the IED difficult to detect.

The detection piece of JIEDDO's mission has been a major shortcoming of the organization since it was formed in 2006 to tackle the problem, Oates said. It has not received a good "return on the investment" it has made on technologies designed to find hidden bombs.

That's one reason why he wants to change the perception of JIEDDO as a "shadowy" organization. "I'm trying to make sure as many people as possible know what our requirements are so we can get more people working on the problem," he told National Defense in an interview. "Technology wise, I think we can extend our outreach to academia and industry. We are working on that to make sure more people are aware of our problem set. I think there is plenty of motivation to solve the problem, that's not the issue."

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JIEDDO has two open broad area announcements that are indeed written as "broadly" as possible. Along with a request for help detecting...