JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — More than 40 soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), attended training Dec. 1 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on a new counter victim-operated improvised explosive device system that has recently been implemented in Iraq.
The Jackal system is the newest member to the family of IED-Defeat equipment and is currently in the operational assessment phase of development. It transmits a high-power waveform designed to counter the IED threat that coalition forces face in today’s combat environment.
“The system is designed to save lives,” said Chris Lewis, United States Division-North Jackal lead field service representative. “It will essentially mitigate the threat before they put our service members in danger.”
The Jackal system was first introduced in the spring of 2010, said Marty Scanlon, theater program manager for Jackal training, and a Tobyhanna Army Depot representative. After testing and training on the equipment, the Jackal was put into field combat usage in August 2010.
To date, there are many Jackal systems available, several of which are located throughout various units in USD-N.
“We have the highest density percentage of Jackal systems in the world here in northern Iraq,” said Scanlon. Additional Jackal systems are currently under production through Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., he added.
Scanlon and Lewis both agreed that new equipment was essential in protecting service members from enemy threats.
“New equipment shows that we are evolving and improving,” said Lewis. “We are constantly trying to make things better and save lives.”
Scanlon echoed his comments by saying that service members need to be one step ahead of the enemy.
“I can’t stress the importance of keeping up with the tactics and techniques of the insurgents,” said Scanlon. “Every day that we learn how to defeat some threat out there, they are working on another threat. It’s a constant battle to keep up with them.”
Many of the 3-116th Cav. Regt. soldiers who went through the training said they are excited to try out the new equipment, based on the high marks that their predecessors, the 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, have placed on the equipment.
“This is huge improvement over what we had my first deployment,” said Spc. Stefan Stevenot, security forces driver with Company A, 3-116th Cav. Regt., and a North Bend, Ore., native. “I feel safer heading outside the wire.”