3.4.3.DETECTING COMMAND WIRES (CW s ) There are two primary procedures used in MA to detect and locate physical link command wires. This IED tactic is described in Chapter 1 and although MA operations should be conducted outside of conflict, after devices have been abandoned, it is still considered good practice to locate command wires and ‘take control’ of them prior to staff being inside the explosive danger of the contact point. Specifically, the two procedures are: Use of wire detectors . Most handheld mine detectors are not designed to detect long CWs. Purpose- built wire detectors for long wire detection are commercially available and can be used to help search for CWs. Use of tools. Other tools to locate CWs are improvised hooks or rakes that have been used by security forces in the location of CW for decades. Normally, hooking procedures are used on the edges of linear features or borders such as road or path verges, irrigation or drainage ditches, fence lines or hedgerows, where irregularity from digging in CWs is easily hidden.
Hook
Uncovered CW
Linear feature (vegetation border)
Image 8. Improvised hook uncovering a suspected CW
When hooking, the searcher must take into account the fundamental principle of detector use that ‘there should be overlap between sweeps’. This can be achieved by raking in a pattern often called a ‘crow’s foot’, where the raking or hooking should cross at some point to ensure coverage. Buried CWs. CWs may have been intentionally buried to a substantial depth (20 to 30 cm) or abandoned for some time and become covered over by soil movement over a long period of time. This might leave the CW still detectable by wire detector but not by the hook / rake alone. If the operational threat assessment dictates, it may be prudent for the group that is attempting to locate CWs to utilise a spade or other similar digging tool to excavate and confirm a detection by the wire detector if the hook / rake proves negative. Mitigation against VOIED switches attached to CW to target CW searchers. There have been occasions when VOIEDs have been attached to CWs to target personnel attempting to take control of the CW, or to target poor practices such as the act of pulling on the wire to bring it into a CP. The procedures used to locate CWs should therefore avoid disrupting the CW and actions such as hooking or raking should be conducted in a controlled manner (and only after the detector has confirmed that the immediate area is free from other IED components). If a CW is uncovered, then search procedures should stop and the task be handed over to a qualified IEDD operator.
Search core skills and procedures
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