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COMBAT OUTPOST PAYNE, Afghanistan - What began as a mission to sweep a ridgeline to watch over Marines operating below, quickly turned into much more. To their surprise, the engineers with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, uncovered a total of 27 improvised explosive devices and one weapons cache during the three-day mission, ending Feb. 1.
“We were there to clear the area of any IEDs,” said Cpl. Danny Moore, 22, a squad leader from Monticello, Ark. “The ridgeline had been cleared once before, but not recently. We wanted to be sure it was safe.”
A three-man team took their time searching for anything suspicious, in an area notorious for roadside bombs. After uncovering their first IED, a charge made up of 60 pounds of homemade explosive, the engineers realized this sweep would be anything but routine.
“We intended to push farther than we did, but it was just one IED after another, it was pretty much a minefield,” said Cpl. Andrew Lozier, 21, a combat engineer from Monmouth, Ill. “There were some areas that we suspected the enemy would try to emplace an IED and sure enough when we swept, that’s where they were.”
Within 200 meters of the first find, engineers uncovered 10 others. After calling in explosive ordnance disposal technicians to remove the bombs, engineers moved on, and found more IEDs along the way.
Hunting for the enemy’s weapon of choice is a very dangerous job for the engineers involved.
“It’s a real good feeling having found all those IEDs and being able to walk away from it safely,” said Lance Cpl. Wesley Horton, 21, a combat engineer from Owensboro, Ky. “The whole time I was sweeping, I just remember saying to myself ‘please don’t miss any.’”
Even with such a large number of finds, the Marines remained focused on looking after one another.
“I am just glad to have gotten my Marines back safely, that’s more important than how many IEDs we found,” Moore explained.
Taking 27 IEDs and a cache of rocket propelled grenades away from the enemy’s arsenal, engineers can feel good knowing they helped save the lives of their fellow Marines, explained Lozier.
“Pretty much our whole purpose is to keep other Marines safe,” Lozier said. “The bottom line is to make sure that no one gets hurt.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2011 12:48 |
| Story ID: | 65359 |
| Location: | COMBAT OUTPOST PAYNE, AF |
| Web Views: | 189 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, Engineers uncover 27 IEDs during sweep, by Cpl John McCall, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
