Story filed 4-05-05

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE O'RYAN, Iraq -- In their daily work clearing one of Iraq's main supply roads, soldiers with the 278th Regimental Combat Team's K Troop have had lots of practice perfecting a dance they call the "IED Shuffle."

Spc. Jeremy Allen, 21, of Kingston Springs, Tenn., said the dance occurs whenever a soldier's feet outrun the rest of his body while fleeing to avoid a potential roadside bomb, or improvised explosive device.

Despite carrying up to 70 pounds of gear, the soldiers' feet never seem to touch the ground as they scream "IED, IED," Spc. Allen said.

"So far, it's worked," said Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Asberry, 35, of Jamestown, Tenn., who claims to have originated the move.

Despite their ability to keep a sense of humor in the face of danger, K Troop's main task is a serious one. Roadside bombs are the No. 1 killer of U.S. soldiers here.

Uncovering the bombs before they explode has become something of a game of chess played against the insurgents for the more than 140 soldiers with the 278th stationed here.

"We're just IED hunters," said Staff Sgt. Mark Poston, 51, of Livingston, Tenn. "We find them one way or the other. We have to always wear our ear plugs."

CRAMPED QUARTERS

Attached to a battalion in the 128th Infantry of the Wisconsin National Guard, K Troop operates out of this former Iraqi military ammunition supply base about four miles east of the Tigris River. The soldiers live in cramped, concrete bunkers.

K Troop is assigned to patrol Iraq's heavily traveled central road, which the U.S. Army calls Main Supply Route Tampa. Vehicles coming into and leaving Iraq through Kuwait travel the highway, and it is K Troop's job to make sure any journey is bomb free.

"If something happens on Tampa, it is our fault," said 1st Sgt. Terry Melton, 54, of Livingston, Tenn. "Division (commanders) would not like it if a couple of supply convoys got hit."

Lt. Joseph Sarsfield, 41, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., K Troop's executive officer, said the unit monitors the schedule of planned convoys and sends out patrols to clear the way hours before the convoy is set to arrive. The goal is to find the roadside bombs before they can be detonated under tractor-trailer trucks that usually are lightly armored and often driven by civilians.

When not patrolling Main Supply Route Tampa or the "Back 40," K Troop soldiers relax inside the concrete bunkers of Forward Operating Base O'Ryan, which house about 40 soldiers each in a space about 66 feet deep and 35 feet wide. Soon after arriving here the soldiers combined their money, at a cost of about $350 apiece, to buy about 120 Internet connections inside the bunkers so they can stay in touch with family and the outside world.

FINDING BOMBS

K Troop keeps the wheels churning for Iraq's economy as well as for the U.S. military. A knocked-out supply convoy could impede the military's ability to give its soldiers the beans and bullets needed to sustain any army.

The units from Forward Operating Base O'Ryan have encountered 71 roadside bombs -- with 31 detonated and 40 discovered and destroyed before they could explode, officials said.

The O'Ryan units lost one soldier in December 2004 when a bomb killed Staff Sgt. Todd Olson, 36, who was part of the Wisconsin National Guard.

First Sgt. Melton said the unit has had several other close calls leading to scrapes, bruises, temporary hearing loss and other minor injuries.

Many of the roadside bombs are placed along Main Supply Route Tampa, keeping K Troop soldiers busy patrolling the highway with their armored Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

Lt. Scott Villeneuve, 32, of Nashville, said K Troop soldiers vary their patrol schedules and tactics to keep insurgents off balance and disrupt their ability to plant bombs along the route. Sometimes patrols set up roadblocks, and other times soldiers gather intelligence by talking to Iraqis who live, work or wander along the road, he said.

On other missions, the patrols simply move back and forth along the route to spot anything unusual, soldiers said.

Sweeping the road is not an easy task, as trash litters it everywhere, and insurgents are known to camouflage their explosives in a variety of ways, according to soldiers.

K Troop soldiers once encountered a roadside bomb attached to a street sign that had been placed along Main Supply Route Tampa, Lt. Villeneuve said.

Soldiers must treat everything they see along the road as a potential bomb, he said. A grain sack, a tire, even a dead animal may not be what it seems.

"You can see how it can be dangerous," Lt. Villeneuve said. "You don't want the soldiers to fall in that trap where they don't expect anything to happen."

Insurgents sometimes place fake bombs near more carefully disguised real explosives. Spc. James Ellis, 25, of Livingston, Tenn., said insurgents also hide new bombs in craters left over from previous attacks.

COVERING THE "BACK 40"

But K Troop soldiers have more on their plates than clearing the road, according to their commander, Capt. Paul Shannon.

While two K Troop platoons patrol the road, the unit's other two platoons are responsible for about three dozen villages spread out over 480 square kilometers in a portion of the surrounding area called the "Back 40" by the soldiers.

The largest city, Abayachi, with a population of about 3,000, is a place where people do not like U.S. troops very much, according to Staff Sgt. David Arney, 47.

Instead of running out to greet the Americans, some children here spit on candy thrown out by passing patrols, Lt. Villeneuve said. Parents have been seen slapping children who are caught talking to U.S. soldiers, he said.

Capt. Shannon said the area, about 25 miles north of Baghdad, is considered a suburb of the capital and houses members of the former Baathist Party, which ran the government under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

K Troop's sector sits on the edge of the Sunni Triangle named for the minority Muslim group that is concentrated here and enjoyed power under Hussein's regime.

SEARCH FOR INSURGENTS

Sitting along the Tigris River, Abayachi contains resort homes used on the weekends by Saddam loyalists before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Capt. Shannon said.

Two weeks ago, K Troop descended on the area in force and conducted large-scale searches of more than 125 houses after four roadside bombs went off in two days.

More than 60 local religious leaders showed up to complain at a weekly meeting that normally draws just a handful of Iraqis. Capt. Shannon said he agreed to cease the searches in exchange for an end to the anti-U.S. and coalition forces messages reportedly being broadcast at area mosques.

As a combined unit, K Troop soldiers and the Wisconsin National Guard here have been involved in 15 firefights and captured 164 suspected insurgents during 64 raids. K Troop has conducted more than 600 missions, records show.

Capt. Shannon said two separate companies last year handled the missions now assigned solely to K Troop. He said the troop sends out multiple patrols daily and has a presence on the streets.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

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