thedrifter
02-26-09, 08:01 AM
Where the Buffalo Roams - Bonecrusher Relentlessly Searches Out Improvised Explosive Devices
Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Afghanistan
Story by Lance Cpl. Brian D. Jones
Date: 02.26.2009
Posted: 02.26.2009 07:56
FARAH PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – He sat and pondered the question, “What is the best part of your job?”
Displaying a big grin he responded, “knowing that we’ve ruined the enemies’ plans as they’re observing.”
Sgt. Mario L. Spencer, a combat engineer with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion and the vehicle commander of “Bonecrusher,” a Buffalo Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle, was satisfied with his answer.
On Route 515, a once-notorious, unpaved, barren road riddled with improvised explosive devices, a team of U.S. Marine Corps engineers led by Spencer routinely put their patience to the test while clearing the roadway of enemy threats.
Bonecrusher is part of the Route Clearance Platoon attached to Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, operating in the southern region of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
As a six-wheeled, blast-resistant armored machine, Bonecrusher uses a 30-foot remote controlled robotic arm tipped with pitchfork-like fingers and a camera to inspect and remove explosive threats. The vehicle is designed for clearing routes of IEDs, land mines and other explosive hazards.
Additionally, the Buffalo is resistant to rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades and small arms fire attacks. Without Bonecrusher, engineers would risk excavating their explosive finds by hand.
“It saves a lot of lives,” Spencer and his team said of the Buffalo.
Route 515 is a main thoroughfare for local Afghans, as well as a military supply route, that runs approximately 43 kilometers between the district centers of Delaram and Bakwa. It stretches through villages surrounded by farmland patterned in the shape of what Spencer calls “waffle cones.” The terrain naturally creates numerous narrow passageways, which insurgents use to orchestrate ambushes.
“It used to be the most feared route,” said Spencer.
Clearing the route makes the area safer for local travel, increasing commerce in the area and creating an efficient path of travel for Marine convoys. It also provides vehicle traffic a smoother path vice traveling across the area’s rugged farmland.
“Sitting still and moving methodically slow,” is how Spencer described his route clearance duties. “It’s a job only for the patient.”
The Marines have to be constantly aware of enemy threats on and off the road. Roads laced with IEDs, small arms fire, RPGs and complex attacks combined with the threat of indirect fire all pose threats to their mission.
“You’re always being watched out here, and they can watch from anywhere,” Spencer claimed.
The insurgents have been known to use inexpensive homemade explosives and military-grade explosives taken from mortars and other munitions. The team collectively keeps a cool head about the threat of IEDs, having had previous experience in Iraq.
Along Route 515, Marines with 3/8 have established combat outposts to keep a watchful eye on the surrounding area in which they operate. Elders from surrounding villages have approached the Marines and told them most of the villages in the area had been abandoned by the families to escape insurgent activity.
Spencer says it’s easy to tell which villages have been abandoned. During daylight hours, if no one comes out to wave and say hello to the convoy as it passes, it’s likely empty.
“Once the combat outposts were [constructed], locals noticed we had a permanent presence, and they started [informing us about insurgents operating in the area],” said Spencer.
Some Afghans tell the Marines where IEDs are placed and wish for them to be careful.
“They see we were trying to better their way of life by [defending] the road so they don’t have to go around,” said Spencer. “Now they can actually go across the street to see their neighbors without getting [hurt].”
The Afghan national police patrol alongside the Marines to assist in providing security in the area. Currently, plans are underway to pave the road. Upon completion, responsibility for security will be handed over to the ANP, with the Marines in support.
Since arriving in Afghanistan in August 2008, Route Clearance Platoon has been hit by a few IEDs, but it has successfully found and disabled nearly two dozen.
“Due to our persistence in clearing Route 515, the road is no longer as much of a threat,” Spencer said.
more pix's
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=30471
Ellie
Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Afghanistan
Story by Lance Cpl. Brian D. Jones
Date: 02.26.2009
Posted: 02.26.2009 07:56
FARAH PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – He sat and pondered the question, “What is the best part of your job?”
Displaying a big grin he responded, “knowing that we’ve ruined the enemies’ plans as they’re observing.”
Sgt. Mario L. Spencer, a combat engineer with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion and the vehicle commander of “Bonecrusher,” a Buffalo Mine Protected Clearance Vehicle, was satisfied with his answer.
On Route 515, a once-notorious, unpaved, barren road riddled with improvised explosive devices, a team of U.S. Marine Corps engineers led by Spencer routinely put their patience to the test while clearing the roadway of enemy threats.
Bonecrusher is part of the Route Clearance Platoon attached to Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, operating in the southern region of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
As a six-wheeled, blast-resistant armored machine, Bonecrusher uses a 30-foot remote controlled robotic arm tipped with pitchfork-like fingers and a camera to inspect and remove explosive threats. The vehicle is designed for clearing routes of IEDs, land mines and other explosive hazards.
Additionally, the Buffalo is resistant to rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades and small arms fire attacks. Without Bonecrusher, engineers would risk excavating their explosive finds by hand.
“It saves a lot of lives,” Spencer and his team said of the Buffalo.
Route 515 is a main thoroughfare for local Afghans, as well as a military supply route, that runs approximately 43 kilometers between the district centers of Delaram and Bakwa. It stretches through villages surrounded by farmland patterned in the shape of what Spencer calls “waffle cones.” The terrain naturally creates numerous narrow passageways, which insurgents use to orchestrate ambushes.
“It used to be the most feared route,” said Spencer.
Clearing the route makes the area safer for local travel, increasing commerce in the area and creating an efficient path of travel for Marine convoys. It also provides vehicle traffic a smoother path vice traveling across the area’s rugged farmland.
“Sitting still and moving methodically slow,” is how Spencer described his route clearance duties. “It’s a job only for the patient.”
The Marines have to be constantly aware of enemy threats on and off the road. Roads laced with IEDs, small arms fire, RPGs and complex attacks combined with the threat of indirect fire all pose threats to their mission.
“You’re always being watched out here, and they can watch from anywhere,” Spencer claimed.
The insurgents have been known to use inexpensive homemade explosives and military-grade explosives taken from mortars and other munitions. The team collectively keeps a cool head about the threat of IEDs, having had previous experience in Iraq.
Along Route 515, Marines with 3/8 have established combat outposts to keep a watchful eye on the surrounding area in which they operate. Elders from surrounding villages have approached the Marines and told them most of the villages in the area had been abandoned by the families to escape insurgent activity.
Spencer says it’s easy to tell which villages have been abandoned. During daylight hours, if no one comes out to wave and say hello to the convoy as it passes, it’s likely empty.
“Once the combat outposts were [constructed], locals noticed we had a permanent presence, and they started [informing us about insurgents operating in the area],” said Spencer.
Some Afghans tell the Marines where IEDs are placed and wish for them to be careful.
“They see we were trying to better their way of life by [defending] the road so they don’t have to go around,” said Spencer. “Now they can actually go across the street to see their neighbors without getting [hurt].”
The Afghan national police patrol alongside the Marines to assist in providing security in the area. Currently, plans are underway to pave the road. Upon completion, responsibility for security will be handed over to the ANP, with the Marines in support.
Since arriving in Afghanistan in August 2008, Route Clearance Platoon has been hit by a few IEDs, but it has successfully found and disabled nearly two dozen.
“Due to our persistence in clearing Route 515, the road is no longer as much of a threat,” Spencer said.
more pix's
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=30471
Ellie