Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. Kyle Sommer, a Huntington Beach, Calif., native, entwines a detonation cord...... read more read more
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4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers took advantage of an opportunity to exercise their demolition skills when they destroyed a bridge May 14 to deny a weapons-transportation route for militants operating in the area.
The mission for the Soldiers of Company E, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, was to help stem the flow of weapons into the Kamaliyah neighborhood from the Sadr City district of Baghdad.
The Soldiers are usually tasked with the vital mission of identifying improvised-explosive devices to clear routes of travel for MND-B Soldiers and Iraqi security forces as they maneuver in and around Baghdad.
The road, which was not more than 15-feet wide, was a bridge over a canal. Following the Soldiers demolition, water has reclaimed the earthen arms route.
The Soldiers made sure they did it right the first time, said Staff Sgt. Kyle Sommer, a Huntington Beach, Calif., native, adding they wanted to make sure they did not have to make a return trip.
As the engineers made their way to the site, along with their security, a concern they faced was the possibility of being attacked by terrorists using roadside bombs. Although part of their normal mission is to seek out these dangerous weapons, they do not normally do it when their vehicles are laden down with explosives of their own as they made their way to perform their mission.
Once the Soldiers arrived, they used boring charges to excavate holes in the ground to prepare for their explosive display.
"We dropped crater charges in to the bore holes, threw some dirt on it and blew them up – and left an extremely large hole in the ground," explained Sommer.
Sommer, who is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he has blown up much bigger targets, but his Soldiers have not so it was good experience for them.
The engineers measured their mission success by the 25-feet wide by 10-feet deep hole the charges left.
"The enemy won't be using this roadway anytime soon," boasted Pvt. Ryan Walker of Granite City, Ill.
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 05.25.2008 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 19791 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 433 |
| Downloads: | 288 |
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