Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) mission support capabilities

Abstract

Actions and activities taken against the IED threat comprise complex tasks. In thebeginning, the focus was on the deactivation and destruction of IEDs, as the only wayto fight against them. As time has passed, more existing capabilities were included inthe field of C-IED, which were able to contribute to the mitigation of the effectivenessof an IED attack.Due to the fact that the first type of response to IED-threat was tasked to combatengineers, particularly to EOD personnel, that was rather obvious that C-IED missionsand responsibilities fell to combat engineers. Nowadays, however, capabilities andcapacities in the C-IED can be identified that exceed the competence of engineer unitsand commanders. The C-IED requires a comprehensive approach. In a staff andheadquarters lots of capabilities and capacities should be involved in C-IED activities,which requires coordination and cooperation. The involvement of those capabilitiesdepends on the type of mission, its phases, and the nature of IED threat. Thus amission commander needs to understand which are the C-IED enablers that cancontribute to C-IED tasks, when and how they influence or mitigate IED threats.