2-8 Tankers Use Scare Tactics to Curb IEDs

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

08.03.2004

Courtesy Story

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By Pfc. Erik LeDrew

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Improvised explosive devices are one of the most common causes of U.S. Army casualties in Baghdad. They consist of anything from a 60mm mortar hot-wired to a detonation device several meters away to TNT packed into a container. There can be only one massive explosive, or many small ones, daisy-chained together to take out an entire convoy. Either way, the presence of IEDs is a danger to both the targeted troops and any unfortunate bystanders.

Lately however, the volume of IED-related incidents has been steadily dropping in northeastern Baghdad, due largely to the high-frequency IED sweeps and presence patrols by Soldiers such as the tankers of Bronze Platoon, "Cobra" Company C, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

On a recent IED sweep carried-out at 2 a.m., July 31, an M1A2 Abrams tank and a Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle covered more than 25 kilometers of roadway, searching routes two major thoroughfares running through 2-8 Cav.'s sector, for any sign of IEDs or people trying to place them.

"This is the time when [the insurgents] like to set-up IEDs along the roads because nobody's out and it's so quiet," said Sgt. Jason Folmar, a tanker with 2-8 Cav."So this is an excellent time for us to catch them in the act or at least scare them off," the White Oak, Texas, native said.

The Abrams led the way, hugging the right side of the road, while the Bradley stayed roughly a dozen meters to the rear, hugging the left side of the road."Most IED sweeps are really uneventful," Folmar said. "We just crawl along the side of the road, while I sit there in the tank, and scan up ahead using the night-vision or the thermals [on the the tank], and try to stay focused on doing the job."

Meanwhile, the tank commander, Staff Sgt. John Fernandez, 2-8 Cav., spent his time scanning the side of the road with a spotlight, discerning whether or not the occasional piles of trash heaped on the roadside had wires coming out of them or not, a telltale sign of an IED.

The tankers concluded their IED sweep after two hours, before segueing into a brief presence patrol, a patrol intended to make their presence known and to hopefully discourage any would-be insurgents.The entire patrol ultimately ended without incident at approximately 5 a.m., after finding neither an IED nor any suspicious persons.Folmar said going out on IED patrols in a tank affords them several advantages they wouldn't otherwise have.

"Humvees just get chewed up by [rocket propelled grenades] and IEDs, but tanks can take a lot more than that," he said. "We've got 70 tons of armor to protect us."In addition to that, because of the amount of noise generated by an Abrams and the daunting size of it, the tankers are able to make use of what Folmar refers to as scare tactics.

"You can hear a tank from really far away, especially at night," he said. "If some guy hears us coming while he's trying to set-up an IED, he's most likely going to just stop what he's doing and run. The proper word for that is deterrent, but we call it scare tactics because that's what we do: we scare them off.

"Despite the gross amount of armor and the 'scare" factor offered by an Abrams, the Bronze tankers realize that all it could take is an explosive put in the right place."We've got much more protection than lighter-skinned vehicles, but enough firepower could destroy anything," Folmar said.

However, the Abrams is still the ideal vehicle for the job, and the Bronze platoon tankers couldn't feel better about riding in one Folmar said.

"We're not invincible, but we definitely have an air of confidence riding around in a tank," Folmar said.

• Date Taken: 08.03.2004
• Date Posted: 08.03.2004 10:04
• Story ID: 186
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ