The Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC), an organization which coordinates the efforts of the entire government to gather and share intelligence about improvised explosive devices (IEDs), officially set up its new home on February 16 at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
FBI Director James Comey and other officials, including LTG Larry Wyche, Senior Commander, Redstone Arsenal, and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Al.), took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.
Before TEDAC’s creation in 2003, no single government entity was responsible for analyzing and exploiting intelligence gleaned from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). To date, TEDAC has received more than 75,000 IED submissions from over 50 countries.
“TEDAC links IEDs to the bomb makers, recognizes trends in how those bombs are being constructed and with what materials,” Comey said during the ceremony. As a whole of government approach to combating the IED threat, TEDAC includes representatives from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Department of Defense; Department of Homeland Security, members of the intelligence community, and international partner agencies. The
The FBI’s website states that the mission of TEDAC is to directly contribute to the eradication of the IED threat. TEDAC informs its partners, who disrupt those individuals and networks responsible for the design, development, purchase, assembly, and deployment of IEDs by providing:
- Scientific and technical exploitation of IEDs through physical examination utilizing established and innovative forensic techniques
- Actionable intelligence related to device attributes and terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures made available to intelligence and law enforcement partners
- Timely response according to partners’ priority requests for intelligence, device exploitation, data, and analysis
- Forecasts of IED-related threats worldwide through research and development and the production and dissemination of finished intelligence products by leveraging deliberate scientific and technical analysis of IEDs
- Centralized repository for IED-related material collected through liaison and strategic partnering
