The DOMEX 25.2 course brings together 12 students from 5 countries

• Training at DOMEX, provided by the Center of Excellence for Improvised Explosive Devices, combines innovation and realism to strengthen the skills of future specialists in the field

The Center of Excellence Against Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED COE) has taught the DOMEX 25.2 course (Document and Media Exploitation, Collection, and Processing in Support to Attack the Networks).

This training initiative, inaugurated by the deputy director of C-IED COE, US Colonel Christopher Bartos, brought together 12 students of five nationalities, belonging to different armies and state security forces.

This training aims to enhance technical exploitation capabilities at level 1 (tactical level), mainly in disciplines related to document exploitation (DOCEX), electronic media exploitation (MEDEX), mobile phone exploitation (CELLEX), and the exploitation of drones and related control systems (UAS) when used as vectors for improvised explosive devices.

The new course structure aims to improve training, both for personnel who collect and preserve the captured material for subsequent technical exploitation, and for personnel who carry out the technical analysis. With this objective in mind, the training has been extended to three weeks, consisting of an initial two-week phase for operators and a second one-week phase for data and metadata analysts.

Both phases can be taken independently, depending on the needs of the attending staff, although participation in both is recommended for a perfect understanding of DOMEX work.

The first week of the operator phase consisted of theoretical and practical sessions in each of the areas, taught by military and civilian experts at the C-IED COE facilities in Hoyo de Manzanares.

During the second week, the group traveled to the headquarters of the San Marcial Division of the Spanish Army in Burgos, where instructors recreated realistic scenarios in which students put into practice what they had learned during the first week, with individual and group tasks.

Back in Hoyo de Manzanares, the third week focused on analyzing the data and metadata extracted previously. The training modules covered both general knowledge about the importance of DOMEX products for intelligence personnel and the analysis of the language used in messages to determine the possible identities of the authors, finishing with the use of advanced tools and software for data and metadata analysis.

With this updated program, students finish the training with greater technical knowledge and a greater number of practical exercises finished, giving them a much broader understanding of the role of the DOMEX expert in combating IED systems.