The National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), in collaboration with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), deployed the first Joint Expeditionary Forensic Facilities (JEFF) lab to Camp Victory and Ramadi as a test pilot to see if standard law enforcement forensic capabilities could help coalition forces in identifying who was responsible for these attacks. As IED attacks became the principal way to attack US and coalition forces, it became apparent that the process of collecting evidence and then shipping it back stateside was not logistically practical and was not responsive enough to commanders who needed information and intelligence to fight the terrorists and insurgents while identifying and targeting the bomb makers. Shortly after the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime, coalition forces began to encounter a sharp increase in terrorist and insurgent attacks. In combat zones, attacks may occur simultaneously while soldiers are taking enemy fire and trying to gather evidence. In police work stateside, technicians can rely on the police to secure a site and keep it closed to the public for hours and even days. This presents another challenge as the forensic environment in an operational theatre is often dirty, gritty and uncomfortable. Forensic science is pristine professionals with white lab coats need expensive machines with steady air conditioning, keeping sensitive equipment cool and in a dust‑free environment. Despite this obvious variance, the inquiry will proceed in a similar methodology and approach to collecting and processing evidence. Unlike a domestic criminal investigation, the exploitation of evidence from the bombing of a café in Kabul, a sniper attack against coalition forces, or a car loaded with explosives detonating near a vehicle gate to a Forward Operating Base are uniquely different scenarios in that the investigation is taking place in an active combat zone. They had to adapt, both in the way they processed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and how they handled other ‘crime’ scenes those resources that would typically be in safety in the background had to be moved to the ‘pointy end of the spear’ where the danger was. These are not ideal conditions from which to collect evidence, but they are the conditions for which a new process and programme needed to be developed by the military. The event site is often active with ongoing firefights and mortar fire and is otherwise a hostile environment. In combat scenarios, the time on the scene of an attack is limited. When a murder occurs in the USA, the local police can cordon off the area and have the luxury of conducting a very deliberate and methodical documentation of the crime scene. However, battlefield forensics brings a set of challenges with it technicians need to be brought to the field with the support of a local forensic lab so that the delays of sending material back to the US for further analysis can be avoided.

A response team is sent in to evaluate the site and look for forensic evidence that may have been left behind. As our world has continued to change, the same techniques have begun to be used in conflict zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is why more and more police departments have mobile labs, bringing the ability to solve the crime directly to the site. Technology has changed a lot since 1995, and so has the frequency and type of attacks, requiring law enforcement to integrate technology into virtually every aspect of forensics, from rapid DNA sequencing to quick chemical tests of explosives and narcotics.Ĭriminologists recognise that their ability to quickly develop leads has a direct impact on the ability to solve a criminal case. For instance, when the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing took place, investigators knew within a day that a truck containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel was the cause behind the explosion that killed 168 people. The advancements in modern forensic capabilities have enabled law enforcement officials to quickly identify the details of who caused an incident and how it occurred.

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