A briefing on mines and mine clearance.

This training video is aimed to be used as a part of a lesson for cadets of a Military
Academy/School.
Teacher’s name: Marina Tors’ka
The topic of the lesson: Peacekeeping. Mines and demining
Group level: Elementary - Pre-Intermediate (STANAG 1+ - 2)
by the end of the lesson cadets will be able to speak about
The lesson objective:
mines and mine clearance as part of UN Peacekeeping activity
giving opinion, asking for clarification, praising and
Functions:
encouraging, adding new ideas, and other discourse-markers
Vocabulary: mines, demining
Grammar: direct - indirect questions

Screenplay
Interior. Cadets’ classroom. Morning.

SGM Clearfield: Good morning, cadets. It’s a pleasure to meet you here today. Let me just
start by introducing my colleague and myself. This is Hugo Jespersen from Danish
Refugee Council.

Mr Jespersen: Morning, guys. Nice to see you.

Cadets greet him: Good morning. Pleased to meet you.

SGM Clearfield: My name is Sergeant Major John G. Clearfield, 2nd Combat Engineer
Battalion, Marine Corps Base, North Carolina.

Please allow me to start our meeting with a question:

What do you think was called “the perfect soldier: ever courageous, never sleeps, never
misses”.

Cadets are thinking for 3 sec. Cadet 2: - Terminator. Cadet 4: Soldier of the future.

You may choose from the following options: a) a robot warrior; b) a landmine; c) a
guardsman; or d) a zombie soldier. (may be written on board, put on flashcards, etc)

Cadets provide variants. Cadet 1: guardsman. Cadet 2: robot warrior. Cadet 3: zombie
soldier. Cadet 4: landmine? (with surprise)
- Excellent! (smiling) That’s about landmines. As you could guess our objective today is to
brief you about landmines and mine clearance. Detection and removal of landmines
became, nowadays, a real challenge in defensive, as well as economical, environmental
and, what’s more, humanitarian area.

The simplicity and cost-effectiveness of mines are key factors that explain the common
usage of them in a lot of countries currently facing mine contamination.

It is estimated that there are 110 million land mines in the ground right now. An equal
amount is in stockpiles waiting to be planted or destroyed.

- Do you know how much a landmine costs to produce?

Cadets’ guesses: $25, $50, $5, $100...

- $5 and $25 are pretty close – it’s between $3 and $30. And what about the cost of
removing them?

Cadets’ guesses: $5, $100, cost-free, $10...

- Oh, no, much more expensive – to clear one landmine requires $300 to $1000. The cost
of removing all existing mines would be $50 to $100 billion. Until recent times, about 100
000 mines were removed, and about two million more were planted each year. If demining
efforts remain about the same as they are now, and no new mines are laid, it will still take
1100 years to get rid of all the world’s active land mines.

Mr Jespersen: Furthermore, according to scarier statistics every year mines and explosive
remnants of war (ERW) kill or maim more than 5,000 people and injure 15,000 – 20,000.
The most common injury associated with land mines and ERW is loss of one or more
limbs.

If you have any questions, please ask them but raise your hand first.

Cadet 1 (raises his hand and is allowed to speak): - Sir, do you have any information
about the death rate among sappers?

SGM Clearfield: Sure. As far as I remember, one deminer is, unfortunately, killed and two
are injured for every 5000 successfully removed mines. Besides, mines create millions of
refugees or internally displaced people.

Cadet 2: - May I, sir? My groupmate and you used different words. Is there any difference
between “a sapper” and “a deminer”?

SGM Clearfield: Actually, yes. We usually use “sapper” for a soldier with a special
training in mine clearance who is often known as a “combat engineer” or ”military
engineer” and conducts breaching.
A humanitarian deminer may be a peacekeeping soldier, but often a civilian specialist
from NGO, one who removes or deactivates mines.

Mr Jespersen: I would like to add that a specialist in humanitarian mine clearance is also
engaged in surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.

Cadet 2: - Gotcha, thanks a lot.

Cadet 3: - Sorry, sir. What did you mean when you said ‘conduct breaching’?

SGM Clearfield: Well, ‘to conduct breaching’ means ‘to conduct military mine clearance’.
It's important to distinguish military mine clearance, usually referred to as “mine field
breaching” from post-conflict humanitarian demining. Military breaching involves
opening a safe lane through which troops and vehicles can advance.

Cadet 4: - Could you, please, elaborate on this issue? I'm afraid I need more information
because I’m not fully understanding the difference.

Mr Jespersen: Certainly. Let me clarify it for you. In my organization I’m responsible for
training personnel for humanitarian mine clearance.

Today we recognize two types of mine clearance: military and humanitarian. Military
mine clearance is the process carried out by soldiers to clear a safe path so they can
advance during combat actions. Military engineers only clear mines that block strategic
pathways necessary in the advance or retreat of troops at war. The military term used for
mine clearance is breaching.
Humanitarian mine clearance is very different. It aims to clear land so that civilians can
return to their homes and their everyday routines and don’t think about the threat of
landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), which include unexploded ordnance
(UXO) and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO). This means that all the mines and
ERW affecting the places where ordinary people live must be cleared, and their safety in
areas that have been cleared must be guaranteed.
- Does it make sense?

Cadet 4: - Ok, now I understand it. Thank you, sir.

Mr Jespersen: May I ask you a few questions to see how well you understood the topic?

Cadets: Yes.
Sure.
Oh, no…

Mr Jespersen: How do we call a person who does military mine clearance?

Mr Jespersen: Great. And what about a person who does humanitarian mine clearance?

Cadet 2: - If I’m not mistaken, a humanitarian deminer.

Mr Jespersen: That’s correct. You’ve got it. Next question: what is the main objective of
humanitarian demining?

Cadet 4: - To clear land so that civilian people can return home. And the aim of sappers is
to open a … er lane…

Cadet 3: - Safe lane.

Cadet 4: - Thanx, bro.

Mr Jespersen: Exactly. Well, the last question, guys. What do you think is the most
important for breaching and humanitarian demining: speed or safety? And why?

Cadet 1: - From my point of view speed is more important for breaching because it is
often done under enemy fire and the troops need to move fast.

Mr Jespersen: You’re absolutely right. And as for humanitarian demining?

Cadet 3: - I suppose, for humanitarian demining safety is more important. Because for
people who come back to their homes it is extremely important to know that there are no
unexploded shells or mines, that their land is safe to plant and gather crops.

Cadet 1: - Moreover, parents must be sure, that their children will not find any unexploded
remnants of war that can cause injury or death.

Mr Jespersen: Brilliant! You can apply for a course on mine awareness which will be
conducted on the base next month.

SGM Clearfield: Unfortunately, our time is up. We have to say good bye, gentlemen.

Mr Jespersen: Hope to see you soon. Bye.

Cadets: Good bye.