The delegate of the Government of Spain in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, has inaugurated today the itinerant exhibition that will host the Caja Rural Foundation of Granada until March 25 to commemorate 50 years of the creation of the Explosives Deactivation Service (SDEX) and Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical Defense (NRB) of the Civil Guard, among whose actions “we all remember the enormous contribution they make to the protection of people and democratic institutions.”
“We are dealing with an elite body that, in addition to the fight against terrorist activity or new nuclear, biological or chemical threats, develops other services of a humanitarian nature, such as the one provided for the rescue of little Julen in Totalán,” said the delegate, who has recognized that “thanks to this exhibition we can get to know its true protagonists, the agents that make up the six SEDEX groups and the three search and localization teams distributed throughout Andalusia.”
In Spain there are 41 groups to deactivate explosives and 22 search and localization teams, whose most recent humanitarian action was carried out in 2021 in La Palma to measure and control the gases after the eruption of the volcano of the Canary Island, in order to guarantee the safe return to their homes of all those evacuated.
The exhibition shows the evolution that this specialty of the Civil Guard has experienced since its entry into operation on March 2, 1973, until the present moment, in which the specialists -- more than 1,300 civil guards over these years -- have a specific training and a high level of technification.
This evolution can be seen in the photographs, uniforms, equipment, material, fireproof suits, robots and other effects and resources that will be exhibited in the exhibition hall. Among the exhibits are an underground intervention suit with tripod; an EBEX sound detector; a metal detector; an explosives sniffer; an antique x-ray device; a sample collection case; hand grenades and artillery shells.
History of the SEDEX NRBQ Service
The terrorist threat since the early 1970s, with the use of non-regulatory and non-conventional explosive devices, forced the security forces to respond to this aggression. The first explosives deactivators of the Civil Guard had to adapt, from a traditional methodology and training, to a technique that continuously evolves, with audacity, effort and great spirit of improvement, which meant a high human cost.
The General Order of March 2, 1973 created the Specialists in Explosives of the Civil Guard. At that time they were called ‘Artificieros’ and they counted the support of parks and masters of Artillery, experts in conventional artifacts.
In 1979, the Civil Guard created the Central Department for the Deactivation of Explosives (DECEDEX), with the aim of centralizing training, information and developing intelligence related to the deactivation of explosives. In 1988, DECEDEX was renamed the Explosives Deactivation Service (SEDEX).
In the year 2000 the Explosives Deactivation Service assumes the functions of Defense NBQ (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical), with the denomination of Explosives Deactivation and Defense Service NBQ.
In 2004, to deal with the threat of the use of substances of a nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical nature, the NRBQ Defense System of the Civil Guard was developed and the NRBQ Technical Unit was created within the SEDEX.
In May 2018, the Subsurface Recognition Unit (URS) was integrated into the SEDEX-NRBQ. The URS is the unit specialized in the recognition, surveillance, protection and security in the underground networks of buildings, facilities, infrastructures, itineraries and any other scenario in which the use of the specific material means assigned to the unit is required, as well as the conduct of safety studies related to this medium.