Afghan IED Mentoring

"The explosive hazard reduction course at Joint Sustainment Academy Southwest, here, allows coalition forces instructors teach members of the Afghan National Security Forces the fundamentals of identifying and countering improvised explosive devices.

The course prepares members of the Afghan National Army, uniformed police and border police to operate in a partnership role with coalition forces when IEDs are encountered, the basics of insurgent IED tactics and how to handle and eliminate unexploded ordnance and munitions."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: Petty Officer 1st Class Gino Flores

More Afghan IED Searches

"...

As I slowly back away from the action, I weigh the possibilities. Either the route-clearers are so dedicated to their jobs — and to sparing their fellow NATO soldiers from IEDS — that they eagerly embrace the deadly risk that comes from poking at explosives with knives.

Or, they’re simply deranged.

I haven’t yet made up my mind when there’s a disappointed groan. With a final scrape of a bayonet, Pittman and the other NCO have unearthed the metal object that set off the soldier’s detector. It’s not a bomb. It’s a piece of trash long interred in the middle of the dirt path.

The route patrol marches on, confident that actual IEDs await, not far down the road."

Read more HERE.

Image Credits: David Axe / Wired