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by Airman 1st Class Amanda Currier
37th Training Wing Public Affairs
CAMP BULLIS, Texas (AFPN) -- People from the Office of Special Investigations Detachment 252 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, dug through the rubble of an exploded vehicle during a training exercise here recently.
The vehicle was blown apart to give agents of the antiterrorism specialty team from the base the opportunity to inspect the debris in an attempt to determine what type of explosive caused the blast.
The drill served as the final test for agents participating in a weeklong post-bomb blast course conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"The course gives our agents basic knowledge on how to investigate crime scenes involving explosives," said Special Agent Kevin Doski, Det. 252 operations officer.
During the course, students learned how to identify types of explosives and components of explosive devices. They also studied phases of explosions, components of an "explosive train" and different investigative techniques.
In this particular exercise, the car was blown to bits by half a pound of military C4 contained in a 2-inch plastic pipe equipped with a digital timer, Doski said.
"The windshield was blown from the car intact and landed 155 feet away,"he said.
Doski said the tough part about searching a blast site is the area investigators are required to cover. Once they identify the particle of debris farthest away from the explosion, they measure the distance between the blast and the fragment. Then they add half of that distance to the original measurement, and that determines the area they should search.
The post-bomb blast course not only teaches the agents how to process a blast site, but also gives them a chance to see how other investigative units like the ATF work.
"Knowing how investigative units work together is important," said Special Agent Will Collins of Det. 252. "This course allows us to see what we can expect from other local and federal units."
The course also gives agents the ability to provide initial post-bomb crime scene processing at deployed locations until further assistance arrives, Doski said.
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