U.S. Government Interagency Partner: Humanitarian Demining Training Center

The Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC), headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia, is managed and funded by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. HDTC trains and prepares U.S. military forces, U.S. government stakeholders, and international partners to build partner-nation capacity in land-based and underwater UXO disposal and PSSM. In addition to HDTC’s training function, the center provides program management support to the U.S. military’s geographic combatant command mine action programs in USAFRICOM, USCENTCOM, USEUCOM, USINDOPACOM, and USSOUTHCOM. HDTC’s responsibilities include validating humanitarian mine action project plans and budgets, and monitoring and evaluating global Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (OHDACA)- funded humanitarian mine action activities.

HDTC has courses on landmine clearance, battle area clearance, PSSM of conventional stockpiled munitions, and underwater UXO disposal. Training is conducted in accordance with U.S. law and policy, and international guidelines governing PSSM and UXO disposal. The center uses a threephase approach to provide program management support to the geographic combatant commands. When a partner nation is accepted into the Department of Defense mine action program, HDTC deploys program analysts to assess the state of a partner nation’s demining program. The assessment, or requirements determination site survey (RDSS), identifies partner nation capability gaps in order to develop humanitarian mine action goals, objectives, and resource requirements to effectively and efficiently support the partner nation in achieving its demining objectives. The RDSS provides a viable plan with established objectives and outcomes and is used to request OHDACA-funded resources. The Director of HDTC, in consultation with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Office of the General Counsel and humanitarian mine action program managers, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Special Operations Low Intensity Conflict, Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, and PM/WRA, approve mine action projects.

HDTC also conducts capacity-building training or technical assistance activities in support of combatant command mine action projects. HDTC personnel provide a suite of tools and expertise to perform PSSM, landmine clearance and EOD, and underwater UXO disposal in partnership with other public organizations or private industry. The beneficiaries of capacity building are junior military officers, non-commissioned officers, or civil servants who conduct mine action operations as part of their duties. In order to sustain the capabilities of partner nation humanitarian mine action programs, HDTC, in coordination with PM/WRA, executes mine action projects designed to enhance the skills of mine action managers and, to a degree, ministerial or executive level personnel. These projects include seminars and workshops on legal, policy, and programmatic topics at the operational and strategic level. In FY2018, HDTC spent $3.173 million dollars to execute its global mission. https://home.army.mil/lee/index.php/units-tenants/ humanitarian-demining-training-center

Photo caption: USAFRICOM provided training in six African countries in 2018, including train-the-trainer tutelage being conducted by this partner-country military instructor.

Photo courtesy of USAFRICOM.