A big bang in Bedford

This fireball was once of the different types of explosions demonstrated Tuesday off of Unionville/Deason Road at the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy, where "post blast training" was condcted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Order this photo]

That's been the sound coming for the northern part of the county this week, specifically from the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy.

With members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) looking on, as well as high school students from Williamson County, instructors from the ATF set off a variety of explosive types to demonstrate their effects.

The three-day exercise is called "post-blast training" according to ATF public information officer Eric Kehn, and the bottom line is to ready military investigators to better approach scenes where an explosive devise has gone off, either in a domestic situation or overseas.

But this training isn't about blasts caused by accidents, such as a propane tank explosion or a gas main, but rather explosive devices that are set off in places like Iraq or Afghanistan - and even bombs going off in America.

With Vanderbilt Lifeflight standing by in case of a mishap, the demonstration showed the different types of explosions that can occur with a variety of substances, such as black powder, dynamite, explosives used in construction or demolition and also military ordinance like C-4.

Only a pound or less of the explosives were used in the demonstrations Tuesday, but a person could begin to get an idea of the damage that would be caused by a much larger amount of munitions.

Car bomb training was also part of the exercise, where investigators approach each test blast as if were an actual crime scene and go from there to try to learn what happened.

"What it comes down to is that we have to try to get in the bomber's head," Kehn said. "Whether it's somebody like Eric Rudolph [the Atlanta Olympic bomber] or something like the terrorists over seas, we have to prepare domestically as well as abroad."

Similar train is conducted for local and state law enforcement as well, Kehn explained. "Whoever's responding, whether it's a post overseas or a community like this one, the first responders have to know how to approach it and preserve the scene."

They also have to look for any other explosives at the scene and make sure the areas is safe, he added.

Ian Townsend is the executive officer of the 1000th Military Police Battalion, CID, at Fort Campbell, and he said they are learning what to look for following a bomb blast, including studying the component parts of a bomb and the different types of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) that have been used against U.S. troops overseas.

A total of 23 CID agents were gathered from all over the east coast for the exercise.

Townsend said they were not the experts in how the bombs are made, but do know what to look for to catch the bombers themselves. He was also grateful to the fire academy hosting the demonstration and instruction every year.

But it wasn't only the military or bomb experts taking part in the exercise. About 50 students from Independence High School in Thompson Station were also on hand.

Heather Black teaches criminal justice at the high school and said that the field trip is the highlight of her students' year. The students were there to learn about the different local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, but they were also looking at how the ATF investigates explosions.

"Criminal justice" seems like an unusual class for high school student to be taking, but Black said in today's times, educators are looking at other technical careers paths so that students can "get a feel for what going to be out there in the real world so that they can decide what they want to major in when they get to college."

The training at the academy wraps up on Thursday.