European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 stars and stripes june 2007 Buffalo runs help offset Roadside bombings in Iraq by Teri Weaver stars and stripes Babil Iraq at last staff Ryan finn cracked open his first highly caffeinated rip it two rip its and three hours finn and other members of 3rd company special troops battalion for the4th Bri Gade combat team 25th infantry were Only Halfway done with their tense their Job is route edging the roads in Babil province South of Baghdad and Hunting for Road Side teams in Iraq like this one have had similar jobs for but in recent the insurgents have upped the danger with or explosively formed those sophisticated bombs strike military vehicles in a dais Chain with multiple fireballs driving clean through the armoured the enemy has improved its hiding techniques with the the makers of these Cylinder shaped bombs morph them into curb Mounds of of North says he once saw one hanging in the midst of a they Are our worst finn they Are very Hunting for these hidden ene Mies is a slow and scary finn sits Shotgun in the an anti mine truck with a Dou ble jointed Arm that scrapes through dirt in search of finn operates the while digging for a suspected exit has Shrap Nel scars Pocky Park the windows on the but company a has another Way of looking for they often walk alongside the an attempt to both spot the hid Den explosive and to catch the trigger men who often set them according to Matthew the company command we literally take them by sur said staff Brad of and a member of the company 2nd Teri and stripes staff Ryan finn operates the Arm of the Buffalo anti mine vehicle on a patrol through Babil province last the Buffalo is one of the military most secure vehicles against Roadside twice when finn has used the Arm to uncover they of says its for every bomb that goes off in their the company has found three oth ers before they and while nearly every member of the company has been shot at or been near a bomb no one has been Hurt on walking a the company did lose three sol Diers on May Johnson they were Riding in the one of the most secure vehicles the military when they rolled on top of a other soldiers were Johnson avoiding explosions is Only part of the finn and other soldiers staying awake and Alert on the Slomov Daylong patrols can be diff finn and Many others use rip a drink loaded with Caf Feine according to tastes More bitter than and its amazing what a splash of ice water will he on finn used the but Falos Arm three times to look for three it came up Only once did he have to Check on another Soldier in the Justin of South you awake finn checked on the medic As the morning wore on and the but Falos air conditioning system weakened against the iraqi sum Mer Walas said and Shuf fled in his seat he turned and looked out the search ing among the dirt and debris for More email Teri Weaver at Wear  unique historic Archive Hap in shop online at we ship Apo your Hometown newspaper help illustrate 4ti and you could win i Send us your View Best downrange d is like for Yumi enter by july