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V CORPS ARTILLERYMEN HELP CLEAN UP DANGEROUS MUNITIONS IN BAGHDAD NEIGHBORHOODS

V Corps Release

Release Date: 7/21/2003

By Capt. Josh N. Stephenson and 2nd Lt. Louis Rodriguez C Battery, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery, 1st Armored Division

BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- The soldiers of V Corps' Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery, know their way around this city.

Since taking on their role in Operation Iron Bullet earlier this month, the battery, part of 1st Armored Division, has rolled out to Baghdad's urban areas daily to "police up" unexploded munitions in this city's urban areas. Thus far, C battery's soldiers have transported thousands of rockets, warheads, mortars, artillery shells and other pieces of dangerous ordnance.

The ammunition is taken to a secure holding area outside of the city where it is sorted, packaged, and sometimes, destroyed.

It's a job that requires the battery's soldiers to be ready to adapt to changing situations. Sometimes initial assessments of an area underestimate the total quantity of munitions in a neighborhood. Sometimes soldiers find new stockpiles of previously undiscovered ordnance. When residents discover Americans are removing "bombs" from their children's backyards, they often point out additional sites containing unexploded ordinance.

Occasionally they can be too helpful, and interpreters working with the battery must ask residents to refrain from bringing potentially deadly munitions directly to the soldiers.

Gathering the unexploded munitions is not just a matter of going to a site and throwing ordnance onto a truck. In some cases, the enemy has taken the opportunity to set booby-trap sites in the hopes of killing or injuring the soldiers who clear the city of these dangerous tools of warfare.

On one occasion, while removing 280mm rockets from a site, a grenade was found lodged between containers, pin pulled, waiting for disaster. The plot was foiled, however, by Spc. Mark Fisher's attention to detail. He discovered the trap and the saved lives of fellow soldiers and members of the community.

Before removing any shell, rocket, or mortar, the ammunition is inspected and cleared. If the soldiers suspect the ordnance may be dangerous in any way, Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams further clear the site to ensure that Charlie Battery soldiers work in a relatively safe environment.