U.S. works with Senegalese military, adds demining capability for West African nation

Senegalese soldiers learn how to use a reconnaissance kit to properly identify various types of ordnance, March 8, at an engineer base in Bargny, Senegal. Since Feb. 15, a group of explosive ordnance disposal technicians with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, began assisting Senegalese engineers as part of the Humanitarian Mine Action Program through what is called a train-the-trainer program. The program initially began in 2014, when EOD Marines from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Vermont Air National Guard EOD technicians began teaching a group of veteran, hand-selected Senegalese soldiers how to be instructors. Now, in its second phase, three Senegalese soldiers, all engineers, are instructing eight junior-level soldiers in an EOD level one class, which teaches students how identify various types of ordnance and landmines and how to properly mark its locations.