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ITA Group launches new counter-terror training academy

ITA, the Hampshire-based security group, is launching the International Training Academy, a new City and Guilds centre designed to provide a range of specialist training to help organisations manage the threats from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), dirty bombs, chemical weapons and biological attacks (CBRN).

"The recent chlorine weapon attacks in Iraq highlight the sort of problem that now faces us in the UK.  There is a general assumption that the police and the emergency services are totally geared up to deal with this type of attack but it is not always the case that they have the resources to be able to do so," says Mark Ayres, ITA's CEO.

"Instructors from the International Training Academy work with commercial and public sector organisations to teach them how to reduce their vulnerability to terrorist attacks and to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) in case the worst happens."

The Academy's instructors each draw their knowledge from over 20 years serving in the British Military as Search and Bomb Disposal specialists and the Academy's courses have been designed specifically to enable civilian personnel to be able to gain specialist knowledge in an environment which encourages the development of practical skills as well as theoretical learning.

Mark Ayres says: "One of the Academy's more graphic one-day courses is its Recognition of Firearms and Explosives course (RFX).  We take the students onto the military firing range and demonstrate under controlled conditions the blast effect of a variety of explosive compositions and show just how easy they are to conceal.  This is an essential course for anyone that performs an operational security role, from x-ray screeners to security directors."

The Academy will also be launching a series of one-day courses specifically designed to help commercial and public sector personnel recognise the threats from IEDs, and chemical / biological attacks delivered with ITA Group company, the CBRN Team.