2nd BCT's Buffalo joins hunt for IEDs

Courtesy Photo | Cpl. Jason Nolen, E Co., 1-64 Armor, uses the Buffalo's robotic arm to inspect a metal box alongside a Baghdad road.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

08.15.2005

Courtesy Story

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Spc. Ben Brody

2nd Brigade Combat Team PAO

BAGHDAD -- Looking like a creation from the TV show "Monster Garage," 1st Battalion, 64th Armor's Buffalo lumbers down the streets of Baghdad, searching for improvised explosive devices.

The Buffalo stands far taller than a tank and boasts a robotic arm tipped with a pitchfork-like hand and a camera for seeing into hard-to-reach areas.

"We travel slowly along our routes, looking out the windows for anything suspicious," said Spc. Fred Cotten, a driver with E Company, 1-64 Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. "We know the routes like the backs of our hands. We're out there every day, so it's pretty obvious when something is out of place."

A departure from typical military vehicles, the Buffalo has large windows of armored glass that offer much better side visibility than humvees or armored personnel carriers.

The engineer company's Buffalo team spotted several IEDs in their old area of responsibility, and though they have not found one yet in their new sector, they boast about the Buffalo's effectiveness.

"IEDs have never gone off in the areas we've swept," said Cpl. Jason Nolen, E Co., 1-64 Armor, Buffalo arm operator. "Every time an IED explodes in our sector, it's on a route we didn't patrol that day."

On a patrol July 27, the Buffalo team inspected several bags in the street, and poked through piles of rubble on the shoulder, common hiding places for IEDs.

Using the hydraulic arm's electronic controller, Nolen, from Florence, Ala., guided the arm's sharp tines into a garbage bag and lifted it, revealingâ?¦garbage.

"There's so much trash on the roads, it's very time-consuming to clear all the pieces that could hide an explosive," Nolen said.

Soldiers in humvees travel with the Buffalo and pull security for the slow-moving convoy.

"We're out there looking primarily for IEDs, but anything that catches our eye, we'll investigate," said Staff Sgt. Perre Echolz, E Co., 1-64 Armor, obstacle section sergeant and a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. "Being in the lead vehicle, you've got to be a leader, you can't be nervous at all."

Soldiers speak highly of the Buffalo's reliability and durability under fire.

"Every Buffalo we've heard of getting hit has rolled back to base under its own power," said Cotten, who is from Charleston, Miss. "It's tough as nails. Between driving either this or a tracked vehicle, I"d take the Buffalo, hands down."

The E Co. team picked up their Buffalo in April after receiving a class from 612th Engineers, an Ohio National Guard unit stationed in Baghdad.

"It was a good class -- we learned how to identify an IED, what to look for and where to look," Cotten said. "Since then, we've learned quite a bit on our own that is helping us to keep the roadways safe."

Nolen said the group changes up their routes and departure times constantly to avoid setting patterns for potential ambushers to follow.

"We know when we go out and clear a route, we're responsible for the safety of our fellow Soldiers in the area," Nolen said. "We go out every day and do what we can to keep the routes safe for our guys."

• Date Taken: 08.15.2005
• Date Posted: 08.15.2005 18:25
• Story ID: 2738
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ