GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pvt. Jordy Anthony, right, instructs Sgt. Charlene Curry, a member of Delta Company, 325th Forward Support Battalion, on the proper way to probe for a mine.
Troops learn to
survive AfghanistanThe majority of the 25th Infantry
Division's 3rd Brigade will
be deployed by April
Spec. Stephen Wright advises Afghanistan-bound troops to watch out for possible signs of a bomb: a Pepsi can with a string hanging out, a Burger King cup sitting on the side of the road, even the actions of children.
"Watch the kids," said Wright. "They can be your biggest indicator. A buddy told me that when he was on a foot patrol in Iraq, all of a sudden all the kids scurried away. The kids then put their fingers in their ears. Just by anticipating the blast, they gave themselves away."
In the next instant, a 5-gallon water can loaded with explosives and metal shards went off, Wright said.
Wright -- a member of Charlie Company, 65th Combat Engineer Battalion -- told soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd Combat Brigade Team yesterday how to survive in Afghanistan as they continue to prepare for a year-long deployment.
Wright focused on improvised explosive devices, a favorite weapon of insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.
More than 150 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division are already in Afghanistan as part of the Tropic Lightning's second major deployment this year. By April nearly 4,500 soldiers -- the majority from the division's 3rd Brigade -- will be there to replace the 10th Mountain Division.
Last month, 4,000 soldiers left for a year-long mission in Iraq. The majority of them, members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, are in Kirkuk.
In Afghanistan some of the soldiers will be assigned to the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan at Kabul, while others will go to Joint Logistics Center at Bagram Air Base.
Wright as well as several other instructors from the 65th Engineers wore tunics like those used in Afghanistan "to give the soldiers a better feel of what it will be like there. It's to get them in tune to the battlefield. We try to role-play to mimic and replicate what they will find in Afghanistan."
For instance, the soldiers have to learn to walk only within the boundaries cordoned off by white engineer tape because "it's been checked and it's safe," Wright said.
As Wright led the soldiers through an area bobby-trapped with improvised explosive devices, he showed them innocent-looking items that could serve as indicators. "See this metal plate in the middle of the road?" he said. "Did you see the fresh dirt around it? That could mean the metal plate covers a pressure-sensitive bomb that would be set off when your vehicle rolls over it."
At one point, barbed wire was strung above the road. "You can easily see it now because it's daylight," Wright said. "But think about rolling down the street at night at 20 to 30 mph and you're standing in the truck standing guard."
At another training station, Sgt. Sean Tyree told another class, "Anti-personnel mines aren't meant to kill you, but just to blow your leg off."
Staff Sgt. Adam Hurlocker, a veteran of the 1991 Desert Storm and peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, said, "I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous ... and I do hope luck will be on our side since these IEDs are everywhere and you can't see all of them."
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Schofield soldiers discover
weapons cache in Iraq
TIKRIT, Iraq >> Schofield soldiers with the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division found a second cache of weapons southeast of Tikrit which included 126 60mm mortar rounds and 60 82mm mortar rounds.
Earlier, in Kirkuk, the site of a car bombing earlier this week that killed seven Iraqis, soldiers discovered a hidden 37mm anti-aircraft gun along with approximately 100 rounds of ammunition. The weapon was destroyed with hand grenades, Maj. Josslyn Aberle said, and the rounds were exploded.
U.S. soldiers also captured five Iraqis after they tried to attack a convoy in Baqouba, the U.S. military said. No one was injured in the incident.
The abortive attack was the latest in several attempts by guerrillas to strike against the coalition presence in the city, located about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
The five men were detained by soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment. No further details were released.
