About the Office for Bombing Prevention

Common IED Components

The Office for Bombing Prevention is a branch office within the Protective Security Division of the Office of Infrastructure Protection, a component within the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

Mission

The Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) develops tools to improve national preparedness for bombing threats at all levels of government, the public, and within the private sector.

• Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives
• Coordinating National IED Awareness Programs 
• Multi-Jurisdiction Security Plans 
• TRIPwire 
• Bomb-making Materials Awareness Program 
• Bombing Prevention Training 
• National Capabilities Analysis Database 

Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives 

The Office for Bombing Prevention coordinates the Department’s Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives programs to deter, detect, prevent, protect against, and respond to IED (Improvised Explosive Device) threats. OBP works with first responders and private sector partners to ensure they understand how terrorists might build or use IEDs.

By better understanding terrorist tactics, first responders and private sector partners can improve their capabilities to stop terrorist attacks in the planning phase, thereby reducing the risk of IED attacks.

Office for Bombing Prevention programs implement the national strategy and implementation plan required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive-19: Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives in the United States. The Office coordinates IED programs across the Department, including collaborating with the Science and Technology Directorate to identify and manage counter-IED research and development.

The Office for Bombing Prevention focuses on reducing the risk of IED attacks by:

• Coordinating national IED awareness programs
• Analyzing counter-IED requirements, capabilities, and gaps

Coordinating National IED Awareness Programs

The Office for Bombing Prevention assists the Department's public and private partners with developing IED preparedness strategies. OBP focuses on collaborative approaches, because preventing terrorist bombings requires cooperation among many different public safety organizations to implement preventive and protective measures.

Multi-Jurisdiction Security Plans

OBP works with emergency services and other security partners to develop multi-jurisdiction security plans. These plans provide a security planning model to prevent and protect against IED threats. A Multi-Jurisdiction Security Plan integrates the capabilities of multiple emergency services providers in areas that have many local jurisdictions, and its IED security plan outlines specific bombing prevention actions that reduce vulnerability and mitigate risk.

TRIPwire

The Technical Resource for Incident Prevention Network (TRIPwire) is a secure information-sharing network to inform bomb technicians and other law enforcement officials about current terrorist IED tactics, techniques, and procedures, including weapon design and emplacement.

The system combines expert analyses and reports with relevant documents, images, and videos gathered and translated directly from extremist Web sites and other terrorist sources, to assist law enforcement to anticipate, identify, and prevent IED incidents.

Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program

The Department also promotes awareness of suspicious purchases and behavior associated with IED threats among the public and private sectors through the Bomb-Making Materials Awareness Program (BMAP). BMAP is a collaborative initiative developed by the Office for Bombing Prevention and the FBI, to increase public and private sector awareness of homemade explosives. BMAP produces materials to assist local law enforcement agencies with outreach to private sector retail and wholesale suppliers of commonly used precursor materials.

Bombing Prevention Training

The Office for Bombing Prevention developed and provides a catalog of training programs specifically designed to increase awareness among state, local, and private sector entities of terrorist threats to critical infrastructure and key resources and to educate participants on strategies for detecting and mitigating these threats. OBP works with state homeland security officials and state training offices to coordinate course delivery on an annual basis.

Courses can be requested by state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies, as well as private sector owners and operators, through the Department's Regional Directors and Protective Security Advisors.

More about Bombing Prevention Training

National Capabilities Analysis Database

The National Capabilities Analysis Database (NCAD) gathers comprehensive data on state and local first responders to assess operational IED security capabilities.

When integrated into the NCAD database, this information provides a snapshot of national IED preparedness that helps decision makers properly allocate resources and enhance capabilities.

The NCAD program uses a task-based model of assessment to analyze bomb squads, explosives detection canine units, SWAT, and public safety dive team operational capabilities and readiness. Combined with a Multi-Jurisdiction Security Plan, NCAD gives the Department an accurate, data-driven decision support tool for IED security capabilities enhancement.

Leadership and Organization

The Office for Bombing Prevention is led by Charles Payne.