IED – Weapons Intelligence Teams at Hajmáskér

Early in the morning on that day, the sound of blasts broke the silence of the Hajmáskér

military training area, while black and white columns of smoke were billowing up to the

sky…This time, this was not a capability demonstration by EOD technicians – instead, a

vocational training area was being prepared for a training session starting at noon. The NATO

Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (NATO C-IED COE) and the

HDF NCO Academy organized a joint Weapons Intelligence Team (WIT) course to let the

students practice and master the tasks of these teams in investigating the aftermaths of attacks

committed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

In the interest of successful task execution, before the start of the training, five, already

inoperable vehicles were exploded, each with a different method, to create the ideal venue for

the attendees of the course.

Exactly at noon, the students of the Weapons Intelligence Team (WIT) course – soldiers

coming from 14 nations, including four Hungarian ones – arrived in the training area. Precise

timing was important because in a real-world situation, the WIT members do not see the preblast scene or the moments of explosion itself. They have to draw all their conclusions from

what they find and discover at the attack site after the detonation.

The five teams were assigned a site each, where everybody was given a specific task. Some

had to document the objects they found by taking photos, while others catalogued and

packed some suspicious pieces of evidence that seemed important for the investigation.

Meanwhile, the multinational group of trainers – including five Hungarians – was monitoring

the teamwork, recording both what was correctly done and what went wrong. Thanks to

their experience gained in the areas of operations and their “trained" eyes, no mistakes went

unnoticed.

“The training objective is to provide these men with capabilities that may help their work in

these fields. As far as we can tell, the students have been quite successful so far" – Sgt. 1

Class György Kalányos, the chief training NCO told us.

Maj. José Chamorro, the officer in charge of the training course, – which is included in the

program of the Spanish C-IED COE but is implemented in Hungary – told us that during

the last three weeks the students had taken all the obstacles with very good results, and that

besides their background and determination, this can be credited to the good job done by

their trainers. He added that at the end of the course the trainers will evaluate the students’

individual performance, and make a considered decision as to who can become qualified WIT

team members in the future.

Photo: Gábor Galovtsik