Afghan Army uses downtime to sharpen IED detection

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

12.01.2010

Courtesy Story

ISAF Joint Command

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan National Army engineers with the 215th Corps, 1st Kandak conducted counter-IED training, assisted by British Royal Army mentors, at Forward Operating Base Shawqat, Nad ‘Ali, Helmand province, yesterday.

Sgt. Mark Foskett, an explosive ordinance disposal technician mentoring the ANA explosive ordinance disposal team, said the engineers stay fairly busy either combing the local area for explosives or responding to IED incidents in the field. Their operational tempo has slowed down due to the recent Eid holiday, but his team is making every effort not to squander the little free time they currently have.

“They’re taking a week or so to recover from Eid, so when we’re back here we carry out continuous training,” said Foskett. “We’re setting up scenarios for them to clear, and we’re also giving them the lead to set their own training up.”

Foskett gave the engineers a more active role in the planning portion of the day’s exercise, in an effort to continually make the EOD team increasingly self-sufficient during every practical application session. Instead of planning the training scenario himself, Foskett turned the reins over to Afghan Army Sgt. Hassibullah, the EOD team leader.

After establishing the terrain, population and local compounds present during the scenario, Hassibullah shared his plan of action with his advisors and fellow troops by using a makeshift terrain model. Once all agreed Hassibullah had a solid plan, the engineers donned their gear and readied their bomb-detection tools.

Although the scenario started off slowly, due to the cautious minesweeping carried out by the team’s point man, the stress levels were quickly ramped up once a potential bomb threat came into play.

“One of my corporals called back during the sweep to inform me he came across a potential IED threat,” Hassibullah said. “Once the threat had been established, I went to the front of the patrol and found the IED myself.”

Hassibullah was able to carefully uncover the hidden explosive charge after his point man uncovered a suspicious wire slightly protruding from the ground. In lieu of safely detonating the mine, the team leader explained to his British mentors exactly how he would destroy the bomb had this been a real incident.

“Their performance was pretty good, and they’re right back up to where we expect them after Eid,” Foskett said. “I’m very proud of them. This training highlights just what they can do.”

Their successful completion of the exercise came as no surprise to Foskett, who has been exceedingly pleased with the engineers’ quick learning abilities.

“They’re extremely keen to learn,” said Foskett. “They’re always asking questions and wanting to know more about IEDs. They always want to improve themselves. They always want to know better techniques. They think of themselves as having a fighting role – it’s the biggest threat out there and they want to be dealing with it.”

Hassibullah was also satisfied with the training scenario’s outcome, and attributed most of his team’s success to the dedicated mentorship of the EOD advisors.

“The training here is really useful for us whenever we go into the field,” Hassibullah said. “When we first started working here, we knew very little about combating IEDs. Now it seems as if we know everything there is to know about dealing with mines. After all, this is our country and we are the future of our country. If we don’t protect it, who will?”

• Date Taken: 12.01.2010
• Date Posted: 12.01.2010 07:01
• Story ID: 61154
• Location: KABUL, AF