European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages s tars and stripes thursday april 12 2007 id they r predators troops say patrolling of Laden stretch of Iraq Highway 5 is nerve racking by Monte Morin stars and stripes Baghdad if s a ragged stretch of Road soldiers Call route Preda tors and for those who drive it on a regular basis this new Baghdad Boulevard is three Miles of gut clenching dread littered with mountains of rust ing scrap Metal rubber tires and shabby cinder lock buildings this Section of Iraq Highway 5 carries the dubious reputation of being the most of Laden path in East Baghdad if not All of Iraq Fps or explosively formed projectiles Are a particularly deadly Brand of armo piercing Roadside bomb used by shiite Mili Tias like the Mahdi army the explosives which us commanders say Are manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq Are the size and shape of Coffee cans but can destroy humvee and Bradley fighting vehicles in a single earsplitting blast when one of those things goes off in your direction it sounds like Wrath of god a Soldier yelled As his blacked out humvee hurtled Down the thoroughfare one re cent night he and other soldiers Rode with their Mouths open to equalize the pressure on their eardrums should a blast Tensed every muscle As they roared past piles of debris that might conceal Aneff the Soldier described the ten Sion this Way if s like that feel ing you get when youre Riding a roller coaster you know when youre going up and up and up and youre waiting till that moment you come crashing Down the primary component of the exp is a precision manufactured Copper disc shaped like a dinner plate when the device explodes the disc forms itself into a fist sized slug that punches through the 500pound door of a humvee the bombs have lolled at least 172 soldiers nationwide since mid2004 according to the us military the Road Falls within the 9 Nis san Security District and is the main Supply route for at least two newly established combat out posts the outposts Are the primary weapon in the newly launched Baghdad Security plan during the first month and a half of the plan which started mid february soldiers i tithe 1st battalion 8th cavalry regi ment 1st cavalry division enjoyed an unprecedented Calm but when militia Leader Muntada a Sadr renounced his Call to Lay Down arms several weeks ago sol Diers Here experienced a Spike in attacks Moo Mes boys Are Back in town so weve been getting hit a lot said 1st it Barry couture 24 of Pelham no couture humvee was hit by an exp less than two weeks ago the projectile ripped through the trunk of the vehicle Tore off the spare tire and buried itself in a Cement Wall while nobody was Hurt the Force of the blast flattened All four tires and cracked two windows my ears were ringing for two Days couture said about the Only vehicle that sol Diers feel completely Safe in is the 70ton Abrams tank we can take the bits the other vehicles cant and keep rolling said sgt John Lear 31 of fort Myers Fla said As his Abrams clanked Down the Road recently the worst exp incident to hit the unit occurred on March 15 when six soldiers were killed by a Roadside bomb ambush on another route the troops like the rest of the battalion were attached to the 2nd brigade combat team 2nd infantry division it was some Consolation that sol Diers recently captured the men suspected of planting the bombs first it Lonnie j Harper 24 of Mckenzie term a patrol Leader for 2nd platoon company a was Parton the operation that scooped up the cell for All their deadly work Harper was shocked at the suspects reaction these people Are like scared cats Harper said we put the flex cuffs and blindfolds on them and they started crying like Damn babies they started telling us everything the task of Clearing Roadside bombs belongs to the engineers of company e on an almost nightly basis they Roll through the streets of 9 Nissan in a variety of specially min Clearing vehicles searching for Roadside bombs More often than not soldiers say the explosives find them first if s a very dangerous Job i re ally dont like it said staff sgt Augusta Creech 37 of Wilson no were almost guaranteed to find something if we dont see it before it explodes theres no telling if if s going to cause dam age to us hours before Daybreak Satur Day the platoon sergeant sat in a High wheeled Buffalo a min Clearing vehicle of South african design with a shaped Hull and a Hydraulic Arm unlike Roadside bombs that Are buried deep underground Fps can be placed very quickly along the Roadside and detonated by a trigger Man As Luck would have it they did not encounter any Roadside bombs that morning soldiers expressed a mix of Relief and disappointment Over the dry run id rather we found some thing pc John Russell 20 of Houston said then wed know were doing our Job but commanders said the Engi neers work was deeply appreciated by the battalion i cant say enough about them said it col Jeffrey Sauer commander of the 18 Cav everything they find Means a life saved or Many lives saved email Monte Morin acc photos by Monte and stripes above a spotlight from a Buffalo min Clearing vehicle sweeps Over the Road during a route clearance Mission in new Baghdad the bars running across the vehicles win Dow Are part of its Armor right sgt John Lear 31 of fort Myers a a tank commander Peers through a Periscope vision Block in an Abrams tank in Baghdad