Troops keep EOD teams, streets safer

Photo By Spc. Shea Butler | Staff Sgt. Mendez Frith, 1st Platoon, Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, patrols the streets as an explosive ordinance disposal team detonates improvised explosive devices found by another convoy of Soldiers Nov. 26. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Shea Butler, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.27.2006

Story by Spc. Shea Butler 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Pfc. Shea Butler
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - A group of Soldiers stand in line for lunch as they jokingly make fun of one another, like good friends do, until they get a call on the radio - 'An improvised explosive device has been found.'

Before the voice in the radio can finish, the Soldiers take off in a sprint toward their humvees.

In a matter of minutes, Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, are geared up and mounted in their up-armored trucks ready for their mission.

The platoon's mission - to provide security for the explosive ordnance disposal team while they work keeping other Soldiers safe.

Each Soldier in the security team has an equally important job to accomplish, but there is only one guy with a full view of what is really going on, the gunner.

"My job is to provide rear security for EOD and the rest of my platoon while we are on missions," said Spc. Reginald Winston, a gunner for 1st Platoon. "When the call comes down I gear up, climb up the turret, quickly slam down an energy drink and say the Lord's Prayer," said Winston, a native of Casagrande, Ariz. "Then we roll."

While driving on the streets of Baghdad a plethora of thoughts may run through Soldier's heads, but for 24-year-old Winston his teammates safety is on his mind.

"I get a little nervous when I'm in the gunner's hatch, but my main focus is being the eyes for the rest of the guys in the truck. I'm constantly scanning for snipers and more IEDs," he said.

He wants to keep his platoon safe as possible and wants to give EOD a safe environment in which to work, Winston added.

"Everyone wants to keep EOD safe. They are the ones equipped to detonate IEDs, so they aren't hurting Soldiers," Winston explained.

Soldiers are trained for the urban combat environment. They attend many classes on IEDs and how to spot things that our out of place.

Winston knows when something is out of place on a route he has taken before. He feels it in his gut when something is wrong, he said.

"It makes me feel good that other Soldiers are spotting these IEDs ahead of time. It helps me know that all of our class time is worth it in the end," said Winston, who has already spent two years in a combat zone.

"I trust the guys in my platoon whole heartedly," Winston said. "I know how well they have been trained. Whatever my team leader says is gold. I know he wouldn't steer us wrong."

When they get to the sight of the IED, Winston's platoon provides security while EOD works quickly to detonate them safely.

The security team knows their mission is almost complete when the explosive technicians detonate the find, Winston said.

"It's then time to head back and prepare for the next mission."

• Date Taken: 11.27.2006
• Date Posted: 11.29.2006 11:35
• Story ID: 8419
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ