| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| EOD Marines tests new vehicle |
| 2004-12-29 |
| FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec. 24, 2004) -- An explosive ordnance disposal Marine with Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit was part of the initial field testing Dec. 20 for the Marine Corps' newest vehicle in Iraq — the hardened engineering vehicle "Cougar". Sgt. E.J. "Hondo" Weis is an EOD technician and part of MSSG-31, but was absorbed into the consolidated, multi-service pool of EOD Technicians at Combat Service Support Battalion 1. The pool was formed in preparation for Operation Al Fajr in order to combat improvised explosive devices, weapon caches and unexploded ordnance within the city. Weis is a member of a three-man consolidated EOD team given the responsibility of testing the new vehicle. The HEV Cougar is a 28,550 pounds hulk of a vehicle, wrapped in steel armor and ballistic glass and driven by a six-speed, split-shift, all-wheel drive transmission designed to get the vehicle and its occupants through hazardous and uncertain terrain. The first two Cougars made for EOD came straight off the assembly line in Ladson, S.C. to the consolidated EOD section on Camp Fallujah, said Donald Scattergood, the technical representative from Force Protection, the vehicle's manufacturer, who is on hand to help work out any bugs. "It's a tremendous advantage having a tech rep here," said Capt. James P. Miller, CSSB-1, officer-in-charge of the consolidated EOD Platoon here. The Cougar and its three-man EOD crew entered Fallujah the morning of the 20th as part of a re-supply convoy and prepared to test the capabilities of their new ride. The vehicle met up with another EOD team in a hard-back HMMWV and together the two vehicles drove throughout Fallujah, putting the vehicle through a series of narrow streets and tight turns. The Cougar was able to go everywhere the HMMWV was able to go, including a steep incline on the edge of the city and over rubble that had spilled into the roads. "Frankly, I was impressed by the Cougar," said Weis, a Tucson, Ariz. native. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to test this new piece of gear. It's been a really positive experience." During the improvised trials, Weis acted as the spotter for Sgt. Jason Tinnel, an individual augment to CSSB-1 from 9th Engineer Support Battalion and driver of the HEV Cougar for such tests as backing around corners. But even during these tests, the group remained on standby, ready to respond to any call. When a light-armored vehicle platoon found an IED outside the edge of the city, the Cougar and its occupants responded. The new vehicle received stares and strange looks from the Marines who had never seen it, and many of them snapped photos for themselves. For the EOD Marines, it was a routine call. They took the modified artillery shells designed to explode by remote control and rendered them safe, incapable of receiving the signal to detonate, then loaded them into the Cougar for transportation to a safe disposal site. To the average individual, loading tampered explosives into your truck seems like an insane idea, but the EOD Marines pay it no mind. They receive seven months of training, learning the critical details of weapons systems and ordnance from around the world, their capabilities and how to safely disarm them. During Operation Al Fajr, the consolidated EOD Platoon at CSSB-1 played a serious role in making Fallujah a safe place for civilians to return to by disposing of 389 caches, 1,126 IEDs, 96,165 explosive items, roughly 2.5 million small-arms rounds and 16,525 pounds of high explosive. "When we dispose of a weapons cache, our goal is to have all of the ordnance consumed in the blast," Miller explained, a Chicago, Il. native. "When individuals who don't have the technical knowledge of how different ordnance items function, it becomes a safety issue." Miller explained that EOD has very specific methods for identifying and disposing of ordnance, including techniques used to prepare ordnance for disposal and methods of placing explosives to ensure the entire cache is consumed by the blast. In cases where servicemembers have taken it upon themselves to attempt to destroy weapons or ordnance, many times they don't destroy all of it and this results in what we referred to as "kick outs," ordnance that was thrown from the cache, Miller said. It may be that they are trying to do EOD a favor, but more often than not, they are making it more dangerous for other military and civilian personnel because now they have to deal with "angry ordnance," items that have sustained a high order detonation, and are perhaps more volatile as a result. When not disposed of properly, these ordnance items could be scattered among the rubble and difficult to locate. The EOD Marines continue to respond to different types of calls including weapon caches, unexploded ordnance and IEDs. With their new vehicle, EOD Marines now has a safer way of transporting themselves and their EOD-unique tools and other equipment to wherever their services are required. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #2 These are supery cool folks to me. They have to have brass balls. Dealing with explosives of unknown condition is full with danger. Nice to see they have state of the art dedicated equipment. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-12-29 9:08:19 PM |
| #1 Cool! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-29 8:53:40 PM |