Photo By Ashley Roy | Recycling bins at the Solid Waste Recylcing Facility at Atterbury-Muscatatuck near...... read more read more
EDINBURGH, Ind. - Bottled water companies have reduced the amount of plastic in packaging, the fashion world has begun using items as obscure as egg shells to make clothing and most public places offer green bins with the famous circling arrows as an alternative to a trash can. The world is “going green” and Atterbury-Muscatatuck, near Edinburgh, Ind., is no exception.
Through the Counter Improvised Explosive Device Integration Cell, responsible for providing aid in counter IED training at Atterbury and the Solid Waste Recycling Facility, the installation is saving money by utilizing discarded materials to create mock IEDs to train mobilizing soldiers.
An IED is a common weapon used by insurgents in the Global War on Terror and can be made out of almost any material.
According to an infographic released by the Department of Defense in 2012, IEDs have killed more than 800 American troops and wounded roughly 10,200 since 2008.
That is why the Counter IED Integration Cell is partnering with Walt Anderson, Manager for the Solid Waste Recycling Facility at Atterbury, which serves as the central trash point for the installation and specializes in solid waste, recycling and reutilization.
Larry Sparks, training integrator with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Counter IED Integration Cell (CI2C) at Atterbury, approached the facility after being directed there by others on post.
“We went over there, introduced ourselves, advised them on what we do and asked if we could utilize his resources so that we could just turn right around and use it to train soldiers,” said Sparks. “He pretty much just lets us in there to take whatever we want as long as we use it to train soldiers, and he knows eventually he’ll get it back.”
Recycling materials to create IEDs provides immersion-style training to soldiers, but the cost savings is pretty significant as well.
Jason Litz, training integrator with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., CI2C, estimates that savings total in the $15-20,000 range in IED material alone at Atterbury.
By recycling what’s no longer good for equipment purposes, the trainers get almost the same effect because it’s educating soldiers on the threats that they’ll find in theater, said Litz.
“We’re here to support units with their training management, integrating the IED as a condition of the battlefield,” said Michael Demo, training integrator with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., CI2C. “The biggest piece is replicating what the soldiers are facing in combat. We want it to be as realistic as possible.”
Many programs across post, some maybe not as well-funded, come to the recycling center looking for items such as paint, wood and sometimes metal for projects, said Anderson. The biggest thing they do at the facility is cost avoidance, he continued.
“We’ll turn the trash into treasure or trash into scrap and in some cases, yeah, we just have to turn trash into trash, but this is a matter of getting things upcycled or reused. It’s a beautiful thing. He’s doing exactly what the insurgents do overseas,” said Anderson, referring to Sparks.
Sparks explains the process they go through when preparing to train a unit.
“It goes first with doing the research and finding out where a specific unit is going to, that specific operational area, and then we’ll find out what type of techniques or tactics that they’ll be using and then we’ll take that information and be able to know what to look for. From there we can construct the devices.”
Sparks believes the IED threat isn’t going to go away. When asked about the benefit this program presents, Sparks had a simple and truthful answer.
“Bottom line it saves lives.”
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2013 13:03 |
| Story ID: | 104630 |
| Location: | EDINBURGH, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 165 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Camp Atterbury provides cost-effective training through IED recycling, by Ashley Roy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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