Rounds Found

Photo By Staff Sgt. Miles Elder | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Molly Whitehurst checks out unexploded ordnance found during a joint operation near Maladi in northern Iraq. She is based in Incirlik, Turkey with the 332nd EOD Flight and hails from Bethel, N.C.  

NEAR MANDALI, IRAQ

05.09.2006

Story by Staff Sgt. Miles Elder 

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Near MANDALI, Iraq - Remnants from a past war could have spelled danger for coalition forces currently serving in northern Iraq. These items were disposed of during a joint Iraqi-U.S. operation.

Members of the Iraqi army's Bomb Disposal Company and U.S. Air Force explosives ordnance disposal personnel rushed to a construction site to take possession of munitions discovered by workers near the Iranian border. Nearly 30 rounds of various types of munitions were uncovered at four different locations on the site.

"The danger is that any AIF fighter could walk around and police it up," said Lt. Col. James Rice, who serves as the Tactical Command Post commander and the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division's deputy commanding officer. "Then, they could put it to use as (improvised explosive devices)."

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Eric Osborne led the U.S. detail to identify and remove the rounds. A Lawton, Okla., native who is based with the 332nd EOD Flight out of Incirlik, Turkey, he said unexploded ordnance is used "quite a bit" by insurgents to produce deadly IEDs.

"If we can take away that source from them, it should decrease the number of IEDs they can make," Osborne said. "Most of it is found lying around from the different wars.

"There is a huge amount of ordnance in this country."

A Mercersburg, Pa., native, Rice speculated that the munitions were probably left over from the Iran-Iraq War fought from 1980 to 1988. Locals have told authorities that the current dam construction site was once a key battleground near the two nations" border.

"I believe that was probably an old fighting position of some kind," Rice said. "At the time, they were probably just stored there for use in the war with Iran."

After Iraqi army forces pointed out the locations of the munitions, each round was individually inspected. Several rounds were destroyed on site using daisy chain explosives.

"There were about six items we felt were too dangerous to move out of the area," Osborne said. "They had been damaged somewhat and there was potential that several of the fuses were armed.

"Instead of taking any chances moving them, we just blew them where they were at."

Both Osborne and Rice praised the Iraqi army forces for their efforts. The Iraqis showed a great deal of poise despite their relative lack of experience in this unforgiving task.

"They did a very good job," Rice said. "They've got several platoons trained up.

"Although we identified most of the (unexploded ordnance) it was the Iraqi army that provided security and policed them up."

"They are a brand-new unit," Osborne added. "They are all very recent graduates from their bomb disposal school."

Osborne said his Iraqi counterparts have learned a great deal during the three weeks they have trained together with his team. However, there is still much to learn.

"We are trying to get them moving from a schoolhouse, individual skills building, to working as a unit conducting their own operations," Osborne said. "Trying to steer them in that direction is by far the biggest challenge."

The Iraqi army Soldiers worked well with their U.S. counterparts. They moved quickly across the vast construction site pointing out piles of munitions with ease.

"I was kind of looking over their shoulder, but they identified everything correctly," Osborne said. "They knew what was safe and what wasn't safe to move.

"They were able to transport the items as well, which is not as always as easy as it sounds."

Another aspect of the Iraqi army's performance was their Soldiers" bravery. They were not intimidated by the potential dangers the unexploded ordnance posed to them.

"To be in the position that they are in right now is courageous," Osborne said. "When I graduated from EOD school 10 years ago, they put me in a unit and they kept me on the side and trained me. .

"These guys are learning on the fly while there is a war going on."

• Date Taken: 05.09.2006
• Date Posted: 05.09.2006 13:01
• Story ID: 6321
• Location: NEAR MANDALI, IQ