In the Spring of 1995, the People's Democratic Republic of Laos requested United States assistance in clearing unexploded ordnance (UXO) and land mines from their country. In the northern portion of Laos there are numerous fields of UXO; in the south there are numerous minefields left over from years of warfare. Each year, land mines and UXO kill or maim countless hundreds of civilians and livestock throughout Laos. They are having the same negative impact on human lives and infrastructure development as in other countries plagued with this problem, such as Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The people of Laos were facing a humanitarian disaster.

In June 96, U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) arrived in Laos to carry out this humanitarian training mission to develop a self-sufficient Laotian capability to conduct demining and UXO clearance operations. U.S. personnel worked with the Lao government's primary organization, Unexploded Ordnance Laos (UXO LAO). UXO LAO develops the plans and priorities for UXO removal throughout Laos.

U.S. SOF training in demining and UXO for UXO LAO students focuses on two main areas: clearance and community awareness.

Clearance training provides basic instruction to the deminers of the demining platoons, who are trained on how to conduct safe and effective land mine clearance or UXO removal. The U.S. training is based on the "train the trainer" concept. The goal is to create a self-sufficient Lao cadre of trainers to continue the program after the U.S. completes its humanitarian assistance mission.

Clearance courses include instruction in land navigation, radio procedures, demolition and minefield operations. Additionally, driver training was taught to selected personnel who will operate vehicles for the clearance teams. The nine weeks of instruction culminated in a comprehensive practical exercise.

Students who complete the demining course are employed by two separate Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These organizations hire the trained deminers and employ them in demining/UXO removal operations throughout Laos.

NGOs coordinate and supervise the demining/UXO removal units throughout the country. The U.S.-trained students are employed in UXO removal by NGOs for approximately six months. After that, the best deminers return to start a cadre of instructors. The cadre will allow the school to become self-sufficient with little or no assistance from the U.S.

U.S. SOF also taught a basic community awareness course, with the goal of selecting and training the instructor cadre for follow-on classes. The community awareness course included instruction in developing, field testing, and disseminating community awareness (media) products. During this seven-week course, the class observed an actual community awareness team working in Xieng Khouang province. The students who graduated from the first community awareness course were immediately employed by UXO LAO to perform as instructors at the training center. Follow-on courses will be taught by this initial cadre with assistance from the U.S. instructors.

Throughout the instruction, the focus and goal is to develop a self-sufficient Laotian force capable and confident of conducting demining and UXO removal in the future. Through the initial phases of this humanitarian operation, the people of Laos are well on their way to self-sufficiency in eliminating their land mine and UXO problem.