CEHC trains service members to counter explosive hazards

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood’s Counter Explosive Hazards Center was created and exists today to provide service members with countermeasure solutions to mines, improvised explosive devices and other explosive hazards.

CEHC’s No. 1 mission is to preserve the fighting force by synchronizing and integrating counter explosive hazard solutions, concepts, technology, and materiel across the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities and policy spectrum to support assured mobility, protect the force, defeat mine and explosive hazards across the range of operational missions and environments and ensure America’s service members maintain superiority in all facets of counter explosive hazard warfare.

Part of the U.S. Army Engineer School, the CEHC is organized into five divisions — Intelligence, Materiel, Countermeasures, Strategic Support and Training — and Operations and Headquarters sections.

Intelligence Division

The Intelligence Division is responsible for coordinating with international intelligence communities and analyzing explosive hazard incidents world-wide to develop countermeasures through developing, maintaining and publishing reports, lessons learned or other documentation involving explosive hazards.

Materiel Division

The Materiel Division is responsible for integrating non-U.S. Army materiel solutions for explosive hazard countermeasures, accelerating integration of Army materiel solutions for countermeasures to explosive hazards; finding and rapidly developing and integrating commercial off-the-shelf countermine equipment.

Countermeasures Division

The Countermeasures Division develops deliverables on explosive hazard countermeasures and new equipment training. It also provides unit training support on equipment, and develops and trains countermeasure tactics, techniques and procedures to service members, Department of Defense civilians, contractors, other United States agencies and allied forces.

Strategic Support Division

The Strategic Support Division is responsible for leading counter-improvised explosive device efforts for U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Training Division

The Training Division is responsible for training and certification of U.S. and allied forces on relevant explosive hazard countermeasures. The division provides personnel with the knowledge and skills required to conduct or respond safely to threats in the operational environment.

Operations

The Operations Section provides oversight of all CEHC operations, training and support activities to include human resources, budget, tasking management, calendar, VIP tours and briefings, contracting officers representative oversight and facilities support.

After spending nearly 20 years developing and providing a variety of threat-based contingency and functional training and equipment designed to protect U.S. and allied forces conducting military operations in the explosive hazard environment, the CEHC remains committed to informing the force of the threats and their countermeasures. Though the Army is shifting its priorities and focus from counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to updating its doctrine to prevail in large-scale ground combat operations against peer and near-peer threats, the existence of an enduring organization, dedicated to neutralizing all explosive threats is important as long as the explosive threat to American and allied forces exists.