A chance conversation between Alistair Craib, a highly experienced EOD Officer and at the time a consultant to the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), and Garth Whitty, then the Commander of the UK Joint Military and Police National Search Centre, in 1998 resulted in reaching out to UK based global leaders in EOD, IEDD, demining, NBC, search, weapons intelligence and equipment manufacture.
War was underway in Kosovo, Western Governments were funding large scale demining projects in Africa and Asia, increasingly NGOs and commercial companies were engaging in munition related work that had hitherto predominantly been the domain of the military and while terrorism was on the wane in Europe evidence indicated that this was not the case globally. A collective of invested individuals we also had oversight of international data relating to deaths and injuries across the spectrum of munition clearance and search activities.
It was evident to all of us at our first gathering that we could contribute to mitigating risk in an inherently high risk profession by accrediting the training and experience of individuals and organisations, by sharing information and by establishing an organization that would facilitate the continuous professional development of its members.
Despite the significant contribution of our Membership, more than 2 decades on needless deaths, injuries and at times environmentally questionable procedures continue to tarnish the reputation of our profession. By joining IMCSE you will not only benefit as an individual but contribute to the ongoing development of Munition Clearance and Search across the commercial, NGO and government agency sectors to the greater good of humanity.