IED Clearance Good Practice Guide

3.9.CORE SKILL 8 – DEALING WITH VEGETATION

Vegetation will be an obstacle confronting searchers in open areas and may be an issue that increases over time as lack of maintenance allows it to flourish, further obscuring IEDs.

Image 1. Visual search prior to any interaction with the vegetation

Manual search of vegetated areas should begin with visual search (see Image 1). This should be conducted from a range of heights and positions from inside the safe area. A visual search aid such as a tripwire feeler may be used in line with the operational threat assessment (see Image 2).

Tripwire feeler

Image 2. Use of a tripwire feeler as an aid to visual search in the top layer of vegetation

Search core skills and procedures

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