Engineers provide route clearance training

Photo By Staff Sgt. April Mota | Holding the command wire to a simulated improvised explosive device, Iraqi police Warrant Officer Jameel Nemaa tells the other members of his class what he saw hidden in the grass to alert them of a possible IED. Nemaa attended a three day route clearance class on Victory Base Complex, Baghdad, Nov. 11. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. April Mota, 101st Eng. Bn. 16th Eng. Bde. MND-B)  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.11.2009

Courtesy Story

16th Engineer Brigade Public Affairs

By Staff Sgt. April Mota
101st Eng. Bn. PAO, 16th Eng. Bde.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police from the 1st Mechanized Brigade attended a three day class on route clearance and improvised explosive device recognition at the Task Force Iron Claw Academy, Nov. 11.

Taught by Soldiers of the 101st Engineer Battalion and the 16th Engineer Brigade, here on Victory Base Complex, the three day course covered the main components of IED's, including signs to indicate a possible IED, simulated IED lanes, and Husky vehicle familiarization.

Spc. Norman Thompson, Northbridge, Mass., 101st Eng. Bn., taught the IPs how to use the Huskey, a mine detection vehicle used in convoys for route clearance.

"I was happy to help instruct the mine detection vehicle familiarization course. I ran route clearance missions for an entire deployment; I have plenty of knowledge to share," said Thompson.

This was not the first class that IP officer, Maj. Abbas Ali, attended that was taught by U.S. forces. He was very impressed with the hands on training and felt the portion of the class that covered placement and concealment to be the most helpful.

"We now have another way to detect dangerous IEDs. This training helps us help our people and U.S. forces to avoid terrible incidents around Baghdad," he said.

Warrant Officer Jameel Nemaa is now serving with the IP's. He was thankful their group was able to attend the course as were most of the IP's involved.

"This group will transfer their experiences from this class to the fellow IP's they are stationed with. This knowledge will make our routes and checkpoints much safer. It will help a lot of IPs." said Nemaa.

This was the first time Warrant Officer Hussain Abuid has trained with the U.S. forces. Abuid felt the IP's were well taken care of during the class, receiving nothing put professionalism from the U.S. Soldiers. He was impressed by how thorough the class was.

"This training gives us more motivation to do our job. We're now able to identify different components of the IED," he said.

The last day of class had the officers walk through a simulated IED lane, putting their knowledge from the previous days to the test. Each time the IPs came across something suspicious they would stop to investigate. The IP's were able to properly detect every simulated IED that had been hidden by the instructors.

At the graduation ceremony, Col. Tris Cooper of Marion, Ohio, with the 16th Eng. Bde., thanked the IPs for attending the class and urged them to take the knowledge learned here and share it with their fellow IPs.

"Knowledge is power, but only if it is shared," said Cooper.

• Date Taken: 11.11.2009
• Date Posted: 11.12.2009 09:28
• Story ID: 41459
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ