U.S. Military Mitigates the IED

It is a good bet that most Americans have heard a few things about what the U.S. Military in Iraq is calling the IED, or Improvised Explosive Device. They probably have few illusions about the number one killer of U.S. Troops in Iraq since the national media seems to take particular pleasure in reporting all of the casualties that this weapon system has caused. A word or two about another son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother killed in Iraq may slip into the evening news between rising gas prices and the latest of American Idol, but we rarely hear about what the military is actually doing about the IED. Occasionally, we may read about the killing of high level enemy leaders, heroic firefights, Baghdad security improvements, or heartfelt stories of Americans saving innocent Iraqis. These are great and wonderful things, but what exactly is our military doing about IEDs? Are they not the most lethal threat to our troops? What are we doing to ensure that our troops come home to their Families? The answer is not classified – the military calls it route clearance.

The Families of America’s brave Soldiers would nearly faint if they knew half the things that our military knows about IEDs in Iraq. Suffice to say that our enemy is indeed sophisticated, capable, and determined. This enemy has hailed the IED as an economical weapon system that allows the cheap and cowardly to kill even the world’s best trained and equipped force with minimal risk. It is matched only by the sheer determination of the U.S. Military: that silent professional who has never done anything more than accomplish the mission. The Department of Defense has spent millions of dollars, years, lives, and unbelievable brainpower to find a solution to the IED. It has tried countless technologies, tactics, techniques, and procedures, but the solution that works is something it has always had since 1776 … combat engineers…sappers.

A sapper’s mission in a time of war is to clear the way for the rest of the force or breach enemy obstacles and defensive positions. Combat engineers are as important as ever. The 326th Engineer Battalion (Air Assault) from Ft. Campbell, KY has deployed with the 572nd and 59th Combat Engineer Companies from Ft. Hood, TX and the 58th Combat Engineer Company from Ft. Irwin, CA to support Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-09. They are combat engineers…sappers. Today, one of their missions is to conduct route clearance along the most dangerous roads in northern Iraq. So what does that mean?
Route clearance in Iraq is the application of an ancient military principle known as economy of force. U.S. Military leadership knows that the IED is a serious threat, but also that it is just a symptom of the real problem in Iraq. The military cannot afford to simply fight the enemy’s IED network because that would never win the war – just prolong it. So the military has its priorities in order to build a free and stable Iraq. To save lives (U.S., Coalition, and Iraqi) in the mean time and to assure mobility along the major roads in Iraq, it conducts route clearance. Route clearance essentially means that combat engineers drive down a road to find the IEDs before the IEDs find them. Yes. That is exactly what it means to clear a route. One imagines a mission on the order of Leonidas’ 300. In truth, our sappers have no less courage. Fortunately for them, there is a little more to it and our route clearance teams are the best at what they do.

The route clearance mission is actually a good idea. It turns out that dedicated route clearance teams are able to find the vast majority of IEDs they encounter on the road before the enemy has a chance to detonate them in an IED attack – much more so than any other type of unit. A route clearance patrol has at its disposal a variety of vehicles and equipment designed to safely find and interrogate IEDs. Further, route clearance teams have the support of their chain of command and a full complement of staff that help them to accomplish their mission smartly with intelligence, synchronized with other units and combat operations, and with systematic logistical support. They have the best equipment and information available and are able, as a very small percentage of all the military traffic on the roads, to clear the majority of IEDs so that all other units will encounter an absolute minimum number of IEDs. Finally, many different units will actually plan their missions based on when route clearance teams will clear the routes that they must travel. Route clearance is what the U.S. Army calls a force multiplier. Combat engineers effectively free the rest of the military to accomplish their missions in Iraq; and they save lives everyday.

Despite all of the military’s planning and resources, route clearance will always be a dangerous mission. An inevitable part of that mission is when route clearance patrols must sometimes defy what has become standard practice everywhere else in the military: don’t set a pattern. This is because no matter how capable the route clearance teams may be, they cannot clear an IED that is not there…usually (but that part is classified). This means that route clearance patrols must typically travel the roads at the time and place that they know the enemy is most likely going to attack – and do it intentionally. They often do this with little support from other units and seldom earn respect from the infantry or special operations units who consider themselves to be the leading edge of fighting forces in Iraq; those same units who would never attempt what sappers do every day. There is a combat engineer in contact with the enemy every day in Iraq. They do it courageously and their dedication to the mission is the embodiment of the warrior ethos. They are the most unsung heroes in Iraq.

Some may have heard about EOD, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, but there is a big difference between EOD and route clearance. EOD has been the military’s primary means of disarming, understanding, and disposing of IEDs and they certainly have had a higher profile for their role. EOD units are technical experts and can enumerate the differences between urea nitrate and TATP, but they do not find IEDs. They wait on call to take care of IEDs once other units find them and secure the area. Hence, route clearance. In fact, much of what EOD provides, combat engineers also do. The military needs both, but only combat engineers are out front everyday and first in the kill zone, which has been their niche for over 200 years.

I am an intelligence officer serving with the bravest battalion of Soldiers I have ever known. I have served in Iraq with the infantry before and I have the privilege on a daily basis to read about the unbelievable exploits of U.S. Troops throughout Iraq. Our troops are all heroes that make me proud to serve and they are winning this war. The engineers, the sappers, however, are unique. It is most telling to sit in on a pre-patrol briefing with a route clearance platoon. An air force officer trying to understand what it is like on the ground in Iraq attended one of these meetings. He said to me afterwards that he could really feel the gravity of the situation when the platoon sergeant discussed their plan to evacuate a casualty to the CSH (Combat Support Hospital, pronounced ‘cash’) and then saw a few puzzled looks on some of his Soldiers’ faces. Then the platoon sergeant continued, “…that is the place you go to after an [IED attack] to evaluate your concussion…” and they all nodded. The air force officer, by the way, declined the offer to accompany that patrol on their mission.

Finally, for the Families happy to see their son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother when they return from Iraq safely…thank a combat engineer for clearing the route for them. For keeping your Soldier safe, thank a sapper.
Ryan Tate
Captain, U.S. Army