NCJ Number
215109
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 75 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 14-17
Date Published
August 2006
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the state-of-the-art facility and the instruction provided at the Hazardous Devices School (HDS) at Redstone Arsenal, AL, the only civilian bomb school in the country.
Abstract
Originally developed in 1970, the HDS underwent a $25 million reconstruction process that added 295 acres to the 160-acre facility, which now boasts 14 villages with every type of building and amenity found in a real town, including a high school, movie theater, strip malls, suburban neighborhoods, and an oil-storage facility with a pipeline. Inside buildings are different types of doors, stairways, kitchens, and bathrooms. The new facility allows students to train in lifelike surroundings to better prepare them to transfer their skills to the field. For example, students travel over realistic terrain in bomb suits while carrying equipment and conduct arrival drills in bomb trucks. Budget expansions in the mid-1990s allowed for new courses, personnel, and equipment at the HDS, which now offers courses in weapons of mass destruction, suicide bombers, vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, and robotics. Students are selected through Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices and only individuals who are sponsored by their organizations are accepted. There is no charge for the HDS training, which is funded by the FBI and taught by the U.S. Army Ordnance Munitions and Electronics Maintenance School.