The need for improvised Manufacture of Explosives (IME) awareness // By James Crippin

of explosives can be made from common, easily obtainable chemicals.

These chemicals are not tracked or controlled for the most part. How can they be? It is because they are simple ordinary chemicals such as acetone (painting supplies), hydrogen peroxide (cosmetology use), acids (automotive supplies), or ammonium nitrate (farming fertilizer). It is nearly impossible to control these materials because they are so ordinary. It is possible to track them but then we have to ask how much is the “trigger” amount that we will start with. Millions upon millions of ounces of the liquids as well as pounds of the solids are purchased legally every day worldwide.

One way to address these issues is to raise awareness of what is used to make these materials at the civilian or retail level as well as that of law enforcement. Use the resources that we have available instead of trying to create more. Education and awareness are the key to addressing this issue. If education was provided at several different levels, it could help immensely in identifying the individuals who are attempting to make improvised explosives and what they are making.

Currently the only training available is for the military and law enforcement agencies. These classes are conducted on an irregular basis at the request of the participants. There is no education as described above for the general population.

There needs to be a coordinated effort made to set-up some type of training program that would be specific for each type of target group. I say this because the training requirements for each group would be unique. For example, the general public needs to know what materials they should look being purchased. What individual would need to purchase 4 or 5 quarts or more of hydrogen peroxide hair treatment? Would someone living in an apartment need 200 pounds of ammonium nitrate? These are simple indicators that most people overlook but would be useful investigative leads to be followed up on before an incident could occur.

With regard to the military or law enforcement the needs are different. They would benefit from attending a class where either they or the instructors actually make examples of the more common improvised explosive mixtures. Although some say this is too dangerous, it is no more dangerous than the practice of having narcotic officers manufacture various types of drugs which is done on a regular basis throughout the United States in training courses set-up specifically for that. This would give the responding military and law enforcement personnel the first hand knowledge they need to recognize what was occurring and how to safely neutralize the ongoing processes. There needs to be education, not fear in this training process. Many times now these personnel are told that these materials are far too dangerous for anyone other than a chemist to deal with. While this may be true in some instances, proper training can dispel these issues.

Education, not ignorance, is the way to combat IME. Knowing what can be used to make these materials, allow us to identify, investigate, and stop their use. We must put into place procedures and policies that are proactive, not reactive. We have to strive to take the imitative away from the terrorist and give to those on the front lines of our defense. We cannot outlaw the materials that are used to make these improvised explosives because they are so common, but we can shine the light on those creeping though the shadows to attack civilized society with IME mixtures.

James Crippin, an internationally recognized expert in explosives, is currently trainer with J3 International Consulting Services in Pueblo West, Colorado. He has been providing IME classes to the military and law enforcement for the last four years.