Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox

Chapter 26: Explosion

The IED, counter-mortar, and counter-rocket patrols were almost always the same, but sometimes something unexpected would happen. Most of the time, the unexpected was never wanted because it usually meant casualties.

On one such patrol, our platoon was conducting IED patrols about midway between Camp Baharia and Abu Ghraib. Sometimes we would do the sweep on the main road, but on occasion we would conduct them on the ASRs (alternate service route). I always felt safer doing them on the ASRs because I felt as if the insurgents didn’t think we would travel them very often. Never, ever underestimate the enemy.

I was standing in my usual position in the scout compartment, and Lance Corporal Redd was doing the same. We were driving on an ASR in a column formation with about fifty meters between each vehicle. To the right of us were farms with fresh vegetation, irrigation ditches, and water reservoirs scattered about the land. In the far distance were a few houses that most likely belonged to the farmers, with a long dirt road coming up to them from the main service road.

I was scanning the area surrounding our vehicle when Sergeant Honigsberg passed over the internal radio that he had noticed a suspicious car parked on the side of the main road about five hundred meters ahead of us. He said he noticed three men in the vehicle who were watching us as we drove along the route. We kept a closer eye on the vehicle as we continued forward along the ASR.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

My knees buckled from under me as I dropped inside the scout compartment. Smoke enveloped our vehicle, and our vehicle came to an abrupt halt. My ears were ringing uncontrollably, and I could feel a liquid rolling down my ears. I was scanning the inside of the vehicle to make sure everyone was OK and to see if I had lost any limbs. Everything seemed so hazy and distant.

“Scouts out, scouts out!” Staff Sergeant Phelps was yelling.

Everything happened so fast that I was still trying to gather my thoughts when we were ordered to get out and secure the area. With all the training we had received on IEDs, nothing prepared me for my first close-up encounter with one. I was still in a state of shock and checking myself for wounds. Physically I was fine, but everything sounded so distant, and there was an uncontrollable ringing in my ears. I was disoriented and confused for a short time, but then I started to come back to reality. I turned to Redd and saw that he was shaken but all right. Doc was asking if we were both all right and then started yelling to Honigsberg and Staff Sergeant Phelps to ensure they weren’t wounded.

I jumped out of the back door and got my scouts in a small, hasty defense around the vehicle. I looked for the car that had been on the side of the road, but it had vanished. About ten feet behind us was a giant hole in the dirt road where the IED had been. I looked up at Staff Sergeant Phelps and saw him holding his hand. Some shrapnel or debris must have been kicked up and scratched the backside of his hand. Fortunately, he was fine, and Doc eventually patched him up.

How we managed to go through that blast unscathed is still a mystery. I believe I have a vague idea of what transpired. The three men in the car were probably the triggermen. They were sitting on the side of the road trying to figure out the time interval between each vehicle. After the first two vehicles in our platoon passed the IED, they had a pretty good idea of when to detonate the explosive. When our LAV passed over the location of the IED, they triggered the device, and it exploded as planned. However, we had a couple of things in our favor. The triggermen must have been extremely nervous, and their timing was slightly off, which explained why we passed the IED by five feet before it exploded. Additionally, they must have placed the IED incorrectly. After I looked at the hole where the explosion occurred, it seemed as if they had buried the explosive too deep. Not only that, but it was placed on the side of the road instead of the middle, where it could have done more harm. So the bomb was unable to achieve maximum damage because the dirt road absorbed most of the explosion and kicked up debris and smoke. We learned two lessons: our good fortune was amazing, and even though the enemy may have missed, they were getting better.