Improvised explosive threat reaches global scale.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Usage of Improvised Explosive Devices

IN MARCH 2006 ALONE, about 750 improvised explosive device attacks occurred around the world, according to a senior Defense Department official.

And while the word "roadside bomb" only seems to have entered the public's lexicon during the past three years, using explosives in unconventional ways to assassinate or spread terror has been a tactic for decades.

"It's a very simple weapon with huge strategic capabilities and strategic influence," said Army Brig. Gen. Daniel Allyn, deputy director of the joint lED defeat organization. The bombs are easy to build and use, plus their costs are low, he added.

Information on how to use IEDs is being shared across regions and between loosely connected groups, said David Tillotson III, deputy chief of war-fighting integration and deputy chief information officer for the secretary of the Air Force.

"What we see in Iraq today, we may see in Afghanistan tomorrow, and you may see in the Philippines next week," he said, speaking at a Defense News Media Group conference.

The joint lED defeat organization has a three-pronged approach to tackling the problem in Iraq and Afghanistan: defeat the network or the system providing the bombs, defeat the devices themselves, and train ground forces to detect and avoid falling victim.

As for training, the task force has created a cadre of specialists based at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., who embed with brigades six to nine months prior to deployment. It's their job to provide the latest counter-lED tactics during training. The specialists remain with the units for the crucial first 30 to 45 days, when soldiers are still on the learning curve. They then transition their responsibility to field teams, which remain permanently in theater, Allyn said.

There is a constant flow of information between these teams and the specialists embedded stateside on the latest tactics employed by the insurgents, Allyn said.

And the...