Combat Mission Kandahar by T. Robert Fowler

Author:T. Robert Fowler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2016-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

As the column of vehicles of the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) geared down to a stop along Route Summit, one soldier looked out on the scene with more interest than the others. Sam** was just starting his tour in Afghanistan as the leader of an EOD team, and this would be the first suspected IED site he investigated. All the training he had had as a combat engineer over the past 20-or-so years would now be put to the test, and it had better be good; he would be dealing with devices designed with the deadly intent to kill or maim, not the more routine unexploded munitions he had dealt with before during his tours in Bosnia or his previous tour in Afghanistan in Kabul.

As Sam climbed out of the team’s Cougar, a vehicle specially designed to carry EOD teams while searching for and removing IEDs, he assessed the situation in preparation for his work. The scene seemed a bit strange, not what he had been expecting, but then he reminded himself that this was Afghanistan. The site appeared to be guarded by a motley crew, some in the uniform of the ANP, while others, who he hoped were also police, wore the usual loose cotton men’s clothing called shalwar kameez. If the normal protocol had been followed, a cordon should have been set up to secure the site. But these ANP men were scattered in a relaxed manner around it, making them seem more like a bunch of local residents merely hanging out.

The QRF personnel quickly dismounted from their vehicles, with the infantry starting to work around the area to establish the cordon while Sam’s team set up a safe zone from which they could begin their work. They had to move quickly to deal with this device because they had received intelligence that insurgents were moving toward them, likely planning to launch an ambush. So Sam decided not to use any of their more sophisticated equipment and to instead approach the device carrying his basic tools of a brush and trowel. He could clearly see where the ANP had already prodded the loose gravel on the shoulder of the asphalt road, so he began his cautious approach to the IED. Reaching the spot, he knelt and started to work on it carefully.

Suddenly, he lost his concentration as a shadow passed over the hole. Glancing up, he saw one of the Afghans leaning over him to watch what he was doing. Sam quickly got over his initial surprise, as he guessed, by the Afghan’s posture and expression, that the man was merely curious. But that was not supposed to happen — Sam was not supposed to have an audience while dismantling something that could explode with the first wrong movement. Sam could not help but feel a rise of irritation. Dealing with any IED was dangerous, and one never knew when it might go off. The EOD operator accepted that risk, but it was plain stupid for someone else to come close just to satisfy his curiosity.

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