
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991                   TAG: 9102060659
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

STATE POLICE BOMB TEAM KNOWS ITS STUFF

The bomb experts who successfully disarmed six pipe bombs attached to two chemical storage tanks are members of a specially trained state police group that is among the best equipped in the country.

"I think we compare very well" nationally in training and equipment, said Maj. James Lettner, deputy director of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Last year, the 35 officers attached to state police arson and bomb squads destroyed or disarmed nine bombs, responded to four hoaxes and checked out 40 suspicious devices - unattended briefcases or other containers reported to authorities. The 35 officers are scattered around the state.

Except for injuries in training, no officer has been hurt or killed in the program's 12-year history, said Darrel Stilwell, the bureau's assistant director.

All of the officers have attended a three-week course at the Redstone Arsenal Explosive Ordnance Disposal Center for Training and Technology in Huntsville, Ala. The school is run by the Army.

The officers, who spend much of their time investigating arsons, also take annual refresher courses in Virginia.

The tools of bomb squads range from simple hooks and ropes to lift bombs away from their target to X-ray cameras that can show whether unidentified boxes contain explosives.

The squads also have shielded trucks that pull bomb trailers, which are strengthened metal barrels with vents on top. If a bomb explodes inside the trailer, the force is channeled harmlessly upward.

The squads also are equipped with disarmers, a device used on the pipe bombs found Monday at Allied Terminals Inc.

by CNB