New Engineers, plus explosives equals good times at the range

VILSECK, BY, GERMANY

08.25.2014

Story by Sgt. William Tanner 

2d Cavalry Regiment

ROSE BARRACKS, Germany – Troopers assigned to Bravo Troop, Regimental Engineer Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment conducted a demolitions range in the Grafenwoehr Training Area located near Rose Barracks, Germany, Aug. 21, 2014.

Amongst the Troopers participating in the training were, Pfc. Logan Lopez and Pfc. Kangni Attiogbe, both combat engineers and both relatively new to the RES.

“I have been in for almost five months,” said Attiogbe. “I joined to be able to go to school, to be a part of a great team like this one and to challenge myself.”

Lopez echoed Attiogbe’s sentiment with an anecdote of his own.

“My recruiter actually told me that I would be able to build and blow stuff up,” said Lopez.

Before any charges were blown, leaders with the unit explained to their Troopers what charges were going to be used and how to set them by demonstrating on an old railroad tie.

“We just finished doing a steel cutting charge,” said Lopez. “That’s where we blow up a railroad tie with a couple of blocks of C4.”

Attiogbe went into more detail about the types of charges that will be used throughout the days training.

“Today we are specifically working with C4 charges as well as a shape charge,” said Attiogbe. “We also will be using a crater charge to see how far down a 15-pound charge can dig.”

Lopez also explained what his part was during the steel cutting duration.

“I got to pull the detonator,” said Lopez. “It is an M-81 filled with shock tube. All I had to do was push, pull and then boom!”

Even with the amount of training the Troopers have had in using and preparing M-81 timing fuses, they still made sure that safety was their first priority.

“I can say, so far, everything has gone good and we haven’t had any injuries,” said Attiogbe.

And as the training exercise came to an end and the last of the ordnance was blown, Lopez reflected on how he felt about his job, from his recruitment up till now.

“I get to blow stuff up,” said Lopez. “I love the Army! It’s everything I thought it was going to be!”

• Date Taken: 08.25.2014
• Date Posted: 08.28.2014 10:03
• Story ID: 140656
• Location: VILSECK, BY, DE