New vehicles allow GIs to find, remove hidden IEDs, Roadside Bombs! (GNFI)

Stars & Stripes, European Edition ^ | 4 Jan 04 | Rick Scavetta

[xzins]

By Rick Scavetta, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, January 4, 2004

Rick Scavetta / S&S
Pfc. William Stribling, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y., operates the remote control arm on a Buffalo, the Army's latest equipment to counter the threat of roadside bombs in Iraq.


Rick Scavetta / S&S
The Meerkat, a South African-designed mine detection vehicle, is used by U.S. Army engineers in Iraq to sweep for roadside bombs along convoy routes.


Rick Scavetta / S&S
A Buffalo crew uses a remote control arm to search for improvised explosive devices on Highway 1 south of Samarra, Iraq, as a supply convoy passes by.

BALAD, Iraq — Using recently fielded mine detection vehicles, soldiers from Company C, 489th Engineer Battalion are hunting roadside bombs similar to those that have killed and maimed dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq over the past six months.

Equipped with South African-designed vehicles — the Meerkat and the Buffalo — the Arkansas-based Army Reserve troops have taken an Army side project to the forefront in the military’s efforts to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

Insurgents aiming to demoralize the U.S.-led coalition often stage ambushes with crude explosives hidden among debris along convoy routes or buried near roads.

The platoon of combat engineers, who had been working odd jobs in Kuwait, are now sweeping major convoy routes in central Iraq to clear highway shoulders and medians.

Cramped in the single seat Meerkat, Spc. Stephen Fowler, 22, of Fayetteville, Ark., examined a stretch of Highway 1 last week with the tractor’s powerful winglike metal detectors.

“We have certain audible tones when we find something,” Fowler said.

An ink jet marks the spot. Soldiers in the heavily armored Buffalo pry suspicious objects from the ground with a remote-controlled fork. Sappers — engineers trained in explosives — can then demolish the device.

Both vehicles are designed to protect soldiers from a blast, said Sgt. 1st Class Ed Fletcher, an Oklahoma native supervising the operation.

“It can take up to 20 pounds of TNT and everybody inside will survive,” Fletcher said. “The vehicle is down, but the passengers are all right.”

In June, civilian contractor Shon Craig, 50, of Manassas, Va., arrived in Iraq with the $1.5 million Interim Vehicle Mounted Mine Detection System, a package of several mine-detecting vehicles that the military has kept for five years, Craig said. The equipment, based on South African anti-mine technology, saw action last March at the U.S. airfield in Bagram, Afghanistan, he said.

At first, the Army in Iraq was not interested in manning or field-testing the new equipment, Craig said. The mine threat was minimal, and units were busy changing from combat to occupation duties, he said.

But for six weeks, South African trainers taught Fletcher’s platoon about the equipment from the inside out. Then soldiers translated the schooling into Army tactics. And there were no mine-clearing missions.

Meanwhile, IED attacks against U.S. troops were rising.

“They had all this multimillion-dollar equipment sitting around, so we put it to use against IEDs,” Fletcher said. “It was pretty scary at first.”

On an early mission, the crew stumbled upon an IED half-buried in a foxhole.

“It was an artillery round. You could see the blasting cap and the wire coming out the end of it,” Fletcher said.

His soldiers fanned into a security perimeter and traced the wire’s end; thankfully, no enemy was attached, Fletcher said.

Sgt. Brad Lipe, 24, of Van Buren, Ark., operated a Buffalo for two months.

During that time, he found IEDs and other unexploded munitions. Years of video games prepared him to maneuver the Buffalo’s mechanical arm using only a small display screen to watch the nine-pronged fork scrape into the dirt.

“At first you are a little nervous, but after numerous times it becomes routine,” Lipe said. “You get used to seeing certain things, and know when something’s been put there.”

The Buffalo’s long arm jabs into the crusty roadside. Watching a screen on the dashboard, the operator uses the arm’s camera to pluck out objects.

Much of the time, they find debris.

“We’ve found everything from manhole covers to mufflers,” Lipe said.

At times, locals will point out potential bomb sights, for fear that an attack could harm their children, Lipe said.

Now, the team is sharing their experiences with fellow soldiers, as the company trains other units to use the gear.

“The Army decided to train us up on this and they like how we did,” Fletcher said. “So, they bought several more systems.”

The operation caught the attention of top brass, said Lt. Col. Kent Savre, commander of the Fort Lewis Wash.-based 864th Engineer Battalion, the team’s higher headquarters.

Savre, 43, of Edina, Minn., recommended that the Army supply one system to each division in Iraq. Three weeks after filing the request, a half-dozen more sets were shipped out, Savre said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 19 years in the Army,” Savre said. “The senior leaders saw the threat and immediately bought more [systems].”

Both the Fallujah-based 82nd Airborne Division and the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit sent troops to Balad to train for clearing missions in their sectors. Another team recently deployed to southern Iraq to begin work there.

“They’re figuring it out and morphing this equipment into something useful,” said Col. Gregg Martin, commander of the 130th Engineer Brigade, who oversees much of the Army’s engineers in Iraq. “This is cutting-edge stuff

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

xzins, I am glad to see you. Good post.

Thanks for the ping 2, Defender. Happy New Year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BALAD, Iraq — Using recently fielded mine detection vehicles, soldiers from Company C, 489th Engineer Battalion are hunting roadside bombs similar to those that have killed and maimed dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq over the past six months.

Equipped with South African-designed vehicles — the Meerkat and the Buffalo — the Arkansas-based Army Reserve troops have taken an Army side project to the forefront in the military’s efforts to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

[mrmargaritaville]

They should chain either Saddam sympathizers or some of the el-queda from Gitmo to the front of those booms-just to get a set of eyes closer to the situation.

[ZOTnot]

Our poor soldiers are getting knocked off one and two per day, mostly by roadside blasts. It seems this device will allow us to remove that last obstacle to achieving peace in Iraq once they cannot continue to terrorize us. No harm meant; I should have been more clear in my response.

[VOA]

“It can take up to 20 pounds of TNT and everybody inside will survive,” Fletcher said.
“The vehicle is down, but the passengers are all right.”

Imagine looking at the video cam, maneuvering the remote control arm...
and some terrorist "sets it off".
Next thing you know, there's a big boom, the armored vehicle is jumping about
5-10 feet up and then falls down with a thud...
and you are just fine.

Heck, I might volunteer for that duty...sounds as exciting and a lot safer than
bull-riding at the rodeo!

[Billthedrill]

And you parents thought they were JUST AVOIDING HOMEWORK!!

Ahem. The problem with FR is that people can check my posting history, or I would NEVER ADMIT to having snottily claimed that videogames were lousy preparation for the real world. Mea culpa.

OTOH, you're not fooling anyone. Your first videogame was Pong, admit it. The original version. And it cost you a quarter a shot...

[Darksheare]

One word, "Dude!"

Then, "I want one!"

[wideminded]

At times, locals will point out potential bomb sights, for fear that an attack could harm their children, Lipe said.

We're not talking the Norden bomb sight here; I think they mean "potential bomb sites". Stars and Stripes should have caught this. For some reason the confusion of these two words seems to be getting very common.

[VOA]

It seems this device will allow us to remove that last obstacle to achieving peace
in Iraq once they cannot continue to terrorize us.

Maybe I'm missing something, but after the first couple of deaths by IEDs, I thought
our military would tell the Iraqi civilians what we see at certain patches of roads here
in the USA: NO STOPPING

And send our fleet of Hellfire-equipped Predators on patrol to simply "neutralize"
anybody stopping on roadways and obviously trying to set up an IED.

Sure, this wouldn't work for roads in suburban areas...but as the photo shows above...
a lot of the threat seems

[Lady In Blue]

This is fantastic news! I've been wondering for a while now if there was any such equipment. After all,I said to myself one day, there's kieger counters(sp?)to detect metal so why don't they have such equipment to detect roadside bombs?! Thanks very mcuh xzins for the great news.

[Lady In Blue]

Fantastic news bump!

[xzins]

Hiding those "sights" in the dirt.

Remember those old WWII flicks about bombers doing europe, and finally they get through all the flak, are over the target, and the navigator sticks his nose into the bomb sight? :>)

[SAMWolf]

Cool!

I still like the idea of just marching these guys in front of our convoys. We can always replace the ones that get blowed up.

[PoorMuttly]

Yup...WE are the product of the oppressed, who invented a way to live in the wilderness...and when you think of the level of difficult daily living they left at the time...it was quite a statement of determination.

The people over Iraq way, who lived difficult and desperate lives all along...just being born there, were dominated and indoctrinated forever. I often think about some of the folks still resisting Freedom there...and rue their loss for the future of Iraq...because if they have the guts to resist us...imagine if, like Holmes said of Moriarty..."if only he used his gifts for GOOD."

In light of that...I think it would be great if the International Community would allow us to force these very same people to locate and defuse the mayhem they and their friends have set. Regrettably, present conditions once more require that innocent, noble and brave individuals from elsewhere (us) rise to the occasion and clean up their local communities so that a better sort may dwell there, some day.

[John H K]

American genius triumphs again!

Err, in this case, South African genius.

Unfortunately, (but understandably) Congress balks at buying ANY military equipment abroad, since there's no pork involved for their home district.

But there's a lot of speciality equipment that other countries have come up with that works fine. And I don't have any problem with buying it, instead of spending three times the money reinventing the wheel making our own version when one already exists.

We have a great Defense industry and I'm sure 95% of all our military purchases will be domestic, but anything less than the best equipment can get troops killed. There's some other stuff (like lightweight French artillery that works fine, suitable for being flown in to places with C-130s) that we don't make, yet we're not buying it because of politics, which strikes me as dumb.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Get a load of this.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[McGavin999]

We see a problem, we find a solution. There is nothing more innovative than Americans.

[CyberAnt]

We've lost the majority of our soldiers from the IED .. and I think that's why they keep using it.

[GeronL]

An ink jet marks the spot.

Uh OH!!

Is it eco-freindly?? =o)

[GeronL]

For some reason the confusion of these two words seems to be getting very common.

Sort of like to and too

I wood never make that misteak tho, knot!

[Kewlhand`tek]

Pfc. William Stribling, 19, of Brooklyn, N.Y, is in 4th ID , but i didnt see any mention of 4th id in that article. We were just discussing this issue today, how come we are not using minesweepers