Going High Tech on IED detection!

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Engineers Blaze Trail in Ba'Qubah
Combat engineers of the North Dakota Army National Guard's 141st Engineer Battalion help keep fellow soldiers safe by ridding the roads of explosive devices.
Story by Sgt. Kimberly Snow 196th Mobile Public Affairs DepartmentBA'QUBAH, Iraq, Nov. 04, 2004 — At 5:00 a.m. on a cool autumn morning, all is quiet but for the ever-present humming of generators. Hulks of metal giants glint under the starlight. Soldiers from the North Dakota Army National Guard's 141st Engineer Battalion begin filtering out into the pre-dawn chill. They start to get ready for their mission.
Pre-combat checks and inspections are completed. Convoy briefs are concluded. The soldiers bypass the huge 5-ton trucks, and heavy engineering equipment. They climb into five humvees and one mine detection vehicle, and they're on their way. They are ready to start "Trailblazing," searching for improvised explosive devices, also known as IEDs.
"We search out IEDs, hasty mine-fields and ambush sites," said Staff Sgt. Cody Hertz, a combat engineer. "But what it basically boils down to is finding IEDs, that's the biggest threat now on the roadways."
Soldiers use a specialized vehicle to perform a route sanitation of a roadway south of Hibhib, near Ba'qubah, Iraq. The soldiers are assigned to the North Dakota Army National Guard's Company C, 141st Engineer Battalion,Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Snow
While most convoys traveling the roads of Iraq drive as fast as safety allows, the "Trailblazers" maintain a speed of only 20 to 25 mph. During these route clearance operations, every Soldier in every vehicle scans the roadway, median and shoulders looking signs of disturbance or anything that seems out of place, intent on seeking out the deadly devices.
"We've been over this route so many times that every driver and truck commander knows every pothole and landmark on the route," said Sgt. Jed A. Korth, Alpha Team leader. "We usually notice when something's not right."
When they do find something suspicious, such as a recent ground disturbance, a dead animal, or something as simple as a trash bag or cardboard box, the "Meerkat" is sent in to investigate.
"I'd say it's probably about the best piece of equipment we've got here," said Spc. Matthew A. Davenport. "We're lucky to have it. It's not something everybody can use because of its size - it's small, so you can only put small people in it."
The Meerkat is a single-occupant mine detection vehicle resembling an oversized, armored dune buggy. It features a three-meter-wide array, which uses both metal detection and ground penetrating radar sensors. Should a blast occur, a V-shaped undercarriage directs the blast away from the vehicle, protecting the driver.
The vehicle is designed to withstand the blast of an anti-tank mine, or 15 pounds of TNT. The engineers' vehicle has so far weathered four blasts in Iraq without serious injury to the drivers.
Spc. David Feldman pops his head up from his Meerkat mine detecting vehicle during a route sanitation sweep on a roadway south of Hibhib, near Ba'qubah, Iraq. Feldman is a combat engineer assigned to the North Dakota National Guard's C. Co., 141st Engineer Battalion. Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Snow
"I was blown up in it. It was kind of fun, actually," said Davenport. "I kind of thrive on that stuff, so it was interesting. It handles pretty well and you don't get jerked around that bad. You're definitely safe in there."
The troops also employ the "Buffalo," a blast-resistant vehicle that features a hydraulic arm used to uncover a suspected IED site and move suspect items from the road.
But the Meerkat and Buffalo are not the only items in the unit's arsenal. They also use more traditional engineering equipment in their mission to rid the routes of the deadly roadside bombs.
The day following the route clearance, the troops again head out on their mission to make the roads safer. But this day, they also bring along a scraper and a grader to "sanitize" the route - remove brush and debris from the roadside and median, leveling the surface and making it harder to emplace and hide the roadside bombs.
The Soldiers of Company C have so far located about 60 improvised explosive devices from the roadside, but not without incident. They have been ambushed by rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire on several occasions, and they have endured six explosions. One of them killed Spc. James Holmes, an air defense artillery soldier who volunteered to come to Iraq with the Trailblazers.
"Everyone was shell-shocked, we walked around in a daze for a couple of days," said 1st Sgt. Keith A. Hertz, Company C, 141st Engineer Battalion. "Everyone was blaming themselves. I blamed myself because I called him in to assist, the Lt. blamed himself because he missed it. But I think we did everything right though, now. I don't think we short-changed him. I think about him all the time, and I don't feel guilty anymore."
Because explosive devices are the leading cause of death and injury to coalition forces, the engineers realize the importance of their mission. They compete within the platoons to see who can find the most and constantly strive to stay ahead of the device emplacers.
"When an IED goes off on the road, the first thing I do is run over and look," Hertz said. "When was the last time we went over that? Did we miss it or did they get a chance to set it after we went by. We take it personal when we miss one."