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Platoon hunts IEDs in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Sgt. Robinson Paulino stared intently through the thick windshield and at the camera mounted on the dashboard.

“We’re looking for pressure plates,” the 24-year-old said to the other soldiers in the vehicle.

As the vehicle, a heavily armored truck known as a Buffalo, inched forward on the dry, dusty road in southwest Baghdad, every soldier inside was on the lookout for an improvised explosive device.

“Watch out for those reeds,” said Sgt. Jurgen Valdez, 34. “Were those branches there yesterday?”

When the soldiers were satisfied that there were no IEDs in the area, they relaxed a little.

But they don’t let their guard down for long. For these soldiers, of 1st Platoon, A Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, their job, every day, is to hunt for IEDs planted in the roads of southwest Baghdad. When they find one, they call an explosive ordnance disposal team to destroy the bomb.

“With IEDs, either we find them or they find us,” said Spc. Jonathan Cadavero, 24, the platoon medic. “By finding these IEDs, we take away [the enemy’s] primary means of killing soldiers.”

That objective is one of the most expensive and urgent coalition missions in Iraq. The homemade explosives, which range from crude to sophisticated, have accounted for 70 percent of the casualties suffered by U.S. forces. The Pentagon established the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Task Force in 2004, first established as an Army team, and gave it more than $1 billion to find solutions.

The soldiers of 1st Platoon, along with soldiers from a sister platoon, are the risk-takers in the campaign to defeat IEDs. They go out almost every day to scan and search an area spanning about 500 square miles in southwest Baghdad for roadside bombs and other explosives.

In six months, the soldiers, who belong to 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, have found 172 IEDs in their area of operations. Of those, 62 had the chance to explode, and none of the soldiers suffered serious injuries.

Their mission is vital to the rest of the brigade, the soldiers said.

“This job is a pain in the butt, it’s time-consuming and it’s hard to get on a regular sleep schedule, but everything this brigade does, we’re the spear of it,” said Staff Sgt. Ed McElroy, 1st Platoon’s platoon sergeant. “They try to base all the brigade movements on our schedule, or they’ll adjust ours.”

First Lt. Edward Patterson, the platoon leader, agreed.

“It’s probably 90 percent boredom and 10 percent terror when you’re out there,” he said. “[But] it’s a fulfilling job. We have an impact every day on our battalion, our brigade, everyone around us. Everyone is very thankful to us for doing our jobs.”

The biggest challenge the soldiers face is the terrain. Canals and open dirt roads run through much of their area of operations, Patterson said.

“We really get cautious and careful when we get near the water,” he said.

Recently, the soldiers have noticed an increase in small-arms fire attacks, McElroy said. Every soldier in the platoon has either a Combat Infantry Badge or a Combat Action Badge, Patterson said.

“It seems like areas where U.S. forces are still struggling to get a foothold, that seems to be where they’re pushing hard,” Patterson said about the enemy. “They’re constantly changing, and that’s what makes it hard to figure out what’s going on. Some of these cells are really active. They know what they’re doing.”

Ready to roll

On Feb. 11, the soldiers gathered before sunrise to prepare for the day’s mission.

The Buffalo, which the soldiers named Andre, is a large, sturdy vehicle with a V-shaped hull that’s designed to push an explosion upward and away from the vehicle. An iron claw attached to the top of the Buffalo is designed to dig into the ground to “interrogate” the area for possible IEDs.

The soldiers were ready to roll out of Camp Striker for the day.

As the six-vehicle convoy turned off Main Supply Route Tampa and onto Route Fat Boy, the vehicles slowed to a crawl as the Huskies and Buffalos went to work.

“If we can’t clear a route, then convoys cannot come through. If we don’t clear the routes, someone might get hurt, a convoy may not be able to resupply another unit. Our mission is essential for mobility,” Valdez said.

Depending on the day, missions can last anywhere from five hours to 20 or more.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Cadavero said. “Yesterday we went to the power plant [and] nothing happened, but on the way back we had RPG fire, small arms. It’s Iraq, so you’ve got to expect the unexpected. Every time you leave the base, anything could happen. Route clearance can be boring, but it’s Iraq. It doesn’t stay boring for long.”

The enemy’s preferred method of attacking soldiers with IEDs can be frustrating, Cadavero said.

“We rarely see the face of our enemy,” he said. “This is the only way they can defeat us. Head on, we’d annihilate them.”

Valdez agreed, saying that it’s rare for the soldiers to see a triggerman or catch someone in the act of planting an IED.

“It’s like chasing ghosts,” he said.

But the soldiers know the enemy is always watching them.

“They seem like they’re going about their daily activities, but they’re always watching us,” Cadavero said.

The soldiers didn’t find anything on Sunday’s patrol, but Valdez was satisfied with their progress.

“We like this job,” he said. “We feel like we’re making a difference. In [the Buffalo], we’re protected, we’re fine, but you have guys in Humvees ... and we’re here to keep them safe and make sure they make it home in one piece back to the states.”