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FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan - Two insurgents, responsible for improvised explosive device emplacement in the Khost Province of eastern Afghanistan, were detained Sept. 12 after blatantly setting IEDs in a route near Kholbesat to target a Route Clearance team with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.
IEDs in this area have become prominent, and the Route Clearance team uncovers the home-made bombs daily.
"There is an area north of Kholbesat that is a hot-spot. They use trip-wires and command pull IEDs, and we've found quite a few there. My guys are really pretty good at spotting them," said RCP 9 platoon leader, 1st Lt. Robert Matthews.
Regardless of their diligence, often the IEDs are placed well, and remain concealed. During the routine mission, one of the IEDs went undiscovered, and the 60lb. command-wire bomb was detonated by a hidden trigger-man, just missing the convoy.
"The blast went off right behind my vehicle. My head was ringing, and I wasn't sure if we got hit or the guys behind us got hit, but I knew it was really close," said Matthews.
Kiowa Helicopter pilot and commander for B Troop, 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, Cpt. Michael Lanzafana, and Kiowa pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rex Howard, were providing security for the RCP. The pilots, along with an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, and members of the RCP on the ground began sweeping the area to locate the men responsible for the IED.
The EOD team found a secondary command wire and re-directed the search toward the new IED.
"We had Big Gun [Kiowa] support, and the insurgents are so afraid of helicopters. As soon as we got out of the vehicles, they popped up," explained Matthews. "I told my dismount to just go, run. He was first on the scene."
While the ground element pursued the insurgents on foot, the Kiowa pilots motioned for them to stop. The combined effort led to the capture of two men. The RCP put them through an interrogation and evidence process, which provided verification that the individuals had been at the trigger point.
"These guys were bold," said Matthews, and their objective was promptly foiled by the efforts of the Soldiers on the ground, and in the air.
The Kiowas continued to provide support for the ground troops, and shortly up the road, Howard spotted a third IED.
"Mr. Howard is the best at finding IEDs. I don't know how he saw it, but somehow from 200 feet in the air, at 60 knots he was able to spot the lollipop shape in the road, and the hair-thin wire coming off of it," said Lanzafana.
While locating IEDs is not part of the Kiowa pilot's job, due to the difficulty of seeing small indicators at such high speed and altitude, Howard said that they try to help out as much as they can.
"We get used to seeing a pattern. I saw the wire glinting in the sunlight. You never know, we could have saved a vehicle, or a life," he explained.
Three IEDs meant to devastate troops on the ground were ineffective Aug. 12 as a result of the dedication and team work of the Soldiers and pilots, a feat that is just a regular part of daily life.
"These guys are awesome," said Matthews proudly. "As usual, they were calm, they did their job, and they always do it with a great attitude. It really shows on the missions."
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2009 14:47 |
| Story ID: | 39380 |
| Location: | KHOST, AF |
| Web Views: | 493 |
| Downloads: | 355 |
This work, IED emplacers get bold, get caught, by PFC Andrya Hill, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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