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thedrifter
03-18-09, 08:44 AM
Marines train to beat the bombs

Marines learn to disarm tools of terrorism
By Jimmy Biggerstaff
Hi-Desert Star
Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:22 AM CDT

Rolling into Iraq in 2003, U.S. Marines found the experience level of the local bomb-making industry was pretty rudimentary.

As the invasion progressed, however, the enemy gained experience through trial and error, getting more sophisticated with their improvised explosive devices, Master Sgt. Kelly Crawford, operations chief of the Twentynine Palms Marine base’s explosive ordnance disposal team here, recently explained.

Crawford described how the initial threat came from crudely constructed but nevertheless effective IEDs constructed, “With items found around the house or easily procured at the Baghdad Radio Shack.”

Detonators can be doorbells, car alarms, cordless phones … “They are limited only by their imaginations,” Crawford said.

The low-tech methods are often the most effective, he added, due to their simplicity. Speaker wire connecting a roadside bomb to a car battery is one expedient method to make for an interesting day in the life of a U.S. Marine in combat.

Marines developed electronic countermeasures in the form of jammers in an attempt to defeat the bombs. “So the bad guys developed countermeasures to defeat the jammers,” Crawford said.

“They adapt, change and grow just like we do,” the bomb tech continued. “This is the back-and-forth we’ve dealt with for five years.

“The enemy is smart, well educated and well financed.” Crawford characterized his adversaries after the U.S. decision to dismantle the Iraqi army as causing a situation where the allies were faced with “smart people who didn’t have a job.”

“They only have to be right once,” Crawford said about the bomb building and detection business. “We have to be right every single time.”

The Marines continuously review their tactics, techniques and procedures in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the bombers.

The Marines keep track of their successes and failures in detecting and neutralizing IED threats. A weekly classified brief lists the ones they detect and defeat and compares that with the number that detonated.

“The Marines need to know what’s happening now,” Crawford said, emphasizing the word “now.” Intelligence gatherers provide information to analysts who refine the data to teach Marines to be aware of a threat before it kills them.

The successful warrior develops combat cognitive survival skills. Crawford explained how he teaches his Marines to observe and evaluate their surroundings, looking for anything that, either consciously or unconsciously, seems out of place.

Crawford showed a variety of ways a suicide bomber can detonate a vehicle-born IED, including a trigger in the trunk used for inspection at a checkpoint, and remotely by a terrorist’s handler in case the suicide bomber is having second thoughts.

The average age of the bomb techs here is about 25 years old. They’re not the youngest Marines because they must be non-commissioned officers with about three years of service to be eligible to retrain into this specialty.

Marines are reluctant to discuss specific troop strengths, but in round numbers there are about two dozen explosive ordnance disposal techs assigned to the base team here, including about eight in Marine Wing Support Squadron 374.

Although not the largest in terms of manpower, the Twentynine Palms EODers are the busiest in continental United States, Crawford proudly pointed out.

Inside the entrance to the EOD facility is a wooden plaque with the names of 24 techs killed since July 2004. Because there are only about 600 Marines in the career field, Crawford knew each of the colleagues to some degree.

It’s a sobering reminder to the bomb detectors of the deadly nature of their profession. “If you make a mistake in this job, you’ll never know it,” Crawford deadpanned.

“What we bring to the war is the ability to save lives.”


Ellie