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Director's Message | Table Of Contents, Ken Rutherford

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Director's Message | Table of Contents

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 21.3 (2017), Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Editorial: IEDs and IMAS

Feature: Physical Security and Stockpile Management

in the SPOTLIGHT: Colombia

Field Notes

Research and Development

Endnotes Issue 21.3, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Endnotes Issue 21.3

Black Adder Disruptors, Andy Smith, William Bagley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article reports on an empirical research and development project conducted in collaboration by researchers at University of Genoa, Italy, and Johns Hopkins University, United States. It is a progress report summarizing one element of a broader effort that is intended to provide explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operators with reliable, open-source information to assist in the development of low-order munitions disruptors. Providing operators the information necessary to make energetic tools not only reduces cost but can also circumvent the restrictions and delays that often complicate the import of disruptor components.

Clearing Landmines And Building Peace In Colombia, Vanessa Finson, Giovanni Diffidenti

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 2015, the government of Colombia and las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarais de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) invited Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), to develop a joint pilot project to survey and clear anti- personnel mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). The project was a first of its kind in terms of the composition of the teams: two warring parties working side-by-side, and a means to help build trust and de-escalate the conflict during the Colombian peace process. In 2016, NPA commissioned photojournalist Giovanni Diffidenti to visit Santa Helena and El Orejón to capture the historic demining project in …

Quality Management And Standards For Humanitarian Improvised Explosive Device (Hied) Response Activities, Robert Keeley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

There is an ongoing debate about the need for standards for improvised explosive device (IED) activities. The emergence of civilian IED response follows the development of humanitarian mine action (HMA) in many ways. In particular, the problems of defining contractual targets and norms were problematic in the early days of HMA, when, as for the IED response today, money has started to change hands for services rendered. It is the premise of this editorial that the need for humanitarian IED (HIED) response standards derives from the contractual nature of the relationship between the client and the service provider. Therefore, if …

Refining Explosive Safety Outreach, Geoff Carton, Laura Grindstaff

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Explosives safety awareness programs must identify the target audience and communicate easily understood concepts. To be effective, an audience must apply the concepts presented; however, this is not enough. The program and its message must also be adaptable to a variety of audiences based on how they assimilate information. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has at least 100 years of safety education experience. Over this time, explosives safety messages underwent several evolutions.

Crossing The Fence: Challenges Of Operationalizing Pssm, Elvan Isikozlu, Matthias Krötz, Claire Trancart

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) can be broadly defined as a series of activities that make national stockpiles of weapons and ammunition safe and secure. Over the last decade, PSSM has become a highly requested form of intervention to curb the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) and conventional ammunition (CA), as well as to keep communities safe from unintended explosions. Donors have provided substantial funding for PSSM activities to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where we have learned that the impact of PSSM assistance depends a great deal on how actively improvements are maintained.

Maintaining PSSM …

Strengthening Security In Mali With Weapons And Ammunition Management, Marlène Dupouy

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

When insurgent groups in Mali initiated a rebellion for independence in late 2011, the National Guard and the Malian Defense and Security Forces (MDSF) in Gao were at the forefront of hostilities, which included the pillaging of weapons from government stores. Concurrently, the demise of the Gaddafi regime in Libya triggered an influx of small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) across the Sahel region and the return of fighters from Libya, making northern Mali their base. That challenge was quickly seized upon by jihadists and opportunists aiming to further destabilize Mali and enlarge their bases and activities throughout the Sahel …

Using Small Unmanned Aircraft (Sua) In Hma, Andy Smith

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

With the growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) within humanitarian mine action (HMA), the need for standardized training is becoming increasingly important to mitigate factors that may otherwise inhibit their wider use. The first formal training course for people in HMA to qualify as small unmanned aircraft (SUA) pilots served as an opportunity to pursue this goal and was held at the MAT Kosovo training centre in September 2017. The instructors were from a U.K. company training to U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) standards for commercial SUA pilots. Although drone and UAV are popular terms to describe all umanned …

Making Ordnance Identification Available To Everyone, Howard Rudat

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The continued focus on the use of mobile technology in support of humanitarian demining operations has not only highlighted how these technologies can be adapted and used but has also resulted in tangible tools that can be put to use now. Despite these advances, the cost and availability of these capabilities remains a challenge when resources are limited. Together, the U.S. Army’s Unexploded Ordnance Center of Excellence (UXOCOE), the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) at James Madison University, and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) have solved a key part of that problem by providing resources …

Improvised Explosive Devices And The International Mine Action Standards, Guy Rhodes

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Improvised explosive devices (IED) are not new in mine action; they have contributed to explosive ordnance contamination in post-conflict settings since the advent of humanitarian demining almost 30 years ago.

What is new is that the systematic deployment of IEDs by armed groups is occurring today on a greater scale. The prevalence of use of these weapons by highly visible groups such as the Islamic State has accentuated the profile of IEDs even further. In addition, a large proportion of the IEDs deployed are victim-operated (VOIED) and contribute to a new landmine emergency characterized by a systematic production, standardization of …

Achieving Pssm Through Civil Society And Military Cooperation, Lee Moroney

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The core focus of physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) is twofold: mitigate the risk of unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) that could have drastic humanitarian consequences, and secure stockpiles from illicit diversion and munition theft that could fuel growing insurgencies, terrorist events, and civil conflict by state and nonstate actors worldwide. These areas of concern increase the risks associated with national and regional stability. Increasing PSSM helps professionalize a state’s military and security forces, which builds confidence and strengthens security measures between security forces, the civilian population, and its regional neighbors.

Preparing For The Future: How The Sdgs Impact Mine Action, Ursign Hofmann, Olaf Juergensen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Adopted by all U.N. Member States in September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) entered into effect on 1 January 2016 to guide development efforts. The SDGs are in the early stages of implementation and are still being mainstreamed into mine action. This article draws on a timely study from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims to stimulate collective thinking in the sector, provides policy recommendations, and offers implementation tools.

The Collaborative Ordnance Data Repository (Cord): 2018 Upgrades, Roly Evans

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Collaborative ORDnance Data Repository (CORD) has been in existence since 2015. It is a database of over 5,000 entries detailing a wide range of explosive ordnance. The database is used extensively as a means of identifying munitions by those working in the field of humanitarian mine action, but also by others. Users range from mine clearance operators in Sri Lanka, police bomb disposal teams in Florida or Abu Dhabi, human rights advocates in Washington, D.C., to journalists in London. CORD is not intended as a detailed database. It is intended as a simple online ordnance identification guide with limited …

Promoting Secure Stockpiles And Countering Diversion, Eric Berman, Benjamin King

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Poor management of government stockpiles of small arms and ammunition poses significant safety and security concerns—both for the country in question and often for its neighbors. Challenges to safety are readily apparent by the frequent occurrence and consequences of unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS). Security shortcomings include oversight limitations that facilitate corrupt practices and seizures of state materiel by armed groups that undercut a state’s legitimate use of force, and undermine good governance and the rule of law.

The Small Arms Survey (hereafter referred to as the Survey) actively contributes to efforts to promote physical security and stockpile management …

Humanitarian Mine Action And Ieds, Craig Mcinally, Hans Risser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has been operational in improvised explosive device (IED) clearance in Hamdaniya, Iraq, since January 2017. Additionally, MAG (Mines Advisory Group) has operated in the same area clearing IEDs since September 2015 and has had operations in many parts of both Iraq and Syria. Other nongovernmental organizations (NGO) clearing IEDs include Handicap International and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD). Without question, IED clearance is now an established part of humanitarian mine action (HMA). Yet this does not mean HMA should adopt the full spectrum of IED disposal (IEDD) operations. Rather, NGOs can provide invaluable capacity …

The Challenge Of Long-Term Risk Management In Mine Action, Robert White

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

States affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) are faced with a number of difficult decisions when they establish their mine action program, such as “how deep should operators clear?” and “what tasks should they do first?” The deliberations and conclusions that ultimately are drawn together in national standards are part of an implicit or explicit risk management approach. Over time, risk assessments require review and modification to reflect different contexts.

Recovering The Past: A Photographic Documentary Exploring Post-Conflict Reconciliation, Ian Alderman

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

I am a London-based photographer whose great grandfather was shot at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. With this family history and the then fast-approaching centenary commemorations of the First World War in mind, in 2011 I embarked on developing a complex but unique photographic project to be entitled Recovering The Past. Since its completion, Recovering The Past has been exhibited both at the United Nations in Geneva and currently as a component of the centenary commemorations to the Battle of Passchendaele at the In Flanders Fields Museum, in Ypres, Belgium, as part of the Total War display.

The …