BAOs Key Element in Explosives Detection
News & Happenings
June 27, 2007
TSA bomb appraisal officers (BAOs) are all former bomb technicians, highly specialized in the field of explosives and improvised explosive devices. They were trained at one of two specialized schools and have extensive operational experience in the field as members of military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units or accredited law enforcement/public safety bomb squads.
BAOs have been strategically deployed at airports across the country to assist frontline transportation security officers (TSOs) in detecting these threats. In addition to training TSA personnel to identify explosives and components of explosive devices, BAOs provide realistic threat awareness and countermeasures training on terrorist and smuggling tradecraft as it applies to the aviation environment.
Recently, BAO Steve Brown, a former Army EOD technician, took TSOs and supervisors from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to observe a field demonstration conducted by a local law enforcement bomb squad.
"By seeing the various types of explosives and observing their effects, TSA employees are better able to understand the threat they are expected to identify and intercept," Brown said.
This effort is representative of behind-the-scenes operations by TSA to protect the traveling public by preventing destructive prohibited items from getting on board an aircraft and fighting the war on terrorism at airports across the country.
