Fact File

Anatomy of an IED

IEDs

Improvised Explosive Devices and Vehicle Born IEDs

Improvised explosive devices and vehicle borne IEDs are the greatest threat Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan face today. An IED or VBIED can be constructed in hundreds of designs and with any type of material. They are only limited by a terrorist’s imagination.

IEDs can be disguised to look like any object and to function through a multitude of actions. Remote control devices are being built from car alarms, key fobs, door bells, remotes for toy cars, garage door openers, cell phones and two-way radios. The adaptation of using radios, cell phones and other remote control devices has given the enemy the standoff ability to watch forces from a distance and not be compromised.

Remember the four C’s when encountering an IED

  1. 1 Clear Leave the immediate area; detonation may be imminent, secondary devices may also be present.
  2. 2 Cordon Establish a perimeter
  3. 3 Control Maintain security and a visual to ensure no one tampers with the device.
  4. 4 Call Call EOD Immediately

Have the person that iIdentified the IED present for EOD to interview and question.

Do not attempt to disarm an IED yourself. Leave it to the experts.

Shapes and Sizes

Vehicle borne IEDs come in all shapes and sizes from passenger cars, to large delivery or sewage trucks. There have even been instances where donkey-drawn carts and ambulances were used to attack coalition forces. The amount of explosives used in VBIEDS are increasingly larger, payloads, ranging from 100 to well over 1,000 pounds.

How IEDs and VBIEDs are used

  1. 1. Camouflaging devices to resemble garbage along the roadways or burying them along the side of the road
  2. 2. Using a decoy device out in the open to slow or stop convoys in the kill zone of another device that is obscured along the road
  3. 3. Throwing devices from overpasses, from the road-side in front of approaching vehicles or the middle of convoys
  4. 4. Placed in potholes covered with dirt
  5. 5. Employed along supply routes

122 mm Mortar/Tank/Artillery Shell

A frequent type of explosive used in IEDs and VBIEDs is the 122 mm mortar/tank/artillery shell. These munitions provide a ready made fragmentation effect and can be strung together with other munitions. Other common types of IEDs include putting PE4, TNT, or other explosives in containers such as oil or/ paint cans.

IED Countermeasures

  1. 1. Be alert: While traveling in a convoy, watch the sides of roads for objects that look out of place and. Assume any manmade object encountered can contain an IED. Do not drive over or step on sandbags, garbage bags, burlap material, boxes, or garbage in the road while on patrol.
  2. 2. Know the indicators: If you don’t like what you see trust your instincts and stop, turn around and go another way. Then report your observation. Let the experts check it out. Upon discovering an IED, assume it can be remotely detonated. Be aware of any suspicious individuals in the area and secure a safe distance around the device.
  3. 3. Vehicle dispersion: Stay 50 to 100 meters apart from the vehicle in front of you. This makes it more difficult for a terrorist to directly target a convoy and results in late or early detonation. Also, vary your route, time and speed of travel. The enemy is watching and attempting to determine patterns; make every attempt to vary it day by day.

Information compiled from CJTF-7 OIF Smart Card 4