A group from the 775th is expected to deploy again in the fall, Pitts said.

Army patrols routinely screen supply routes for "suspicious-looking items," Capt. Sean Haglund said. Once a possible bomb is located, an explosive ordnance team like the 775th is called out to the scene.

"It's almost, I want to say, kind of a coward warfare, where they leave improvised explosive devices on the side of the road which are hidden when they go off," Pitts said. "They could kill their own people for all they care. They are just trying to cause hate and discontent."

Brewster said 95 percent of the Iraqi people support the Americans' efforts; it's just that small percentage that defines the insurgency that is a cause of concern.

"You don't know what their motives are and exactly which towns are good, which towns are bad and who's the bad guy," Brewster said.

Sitting in front of a ticking time bomb is "rush," Brewster said. But endless training and proper equipment leaves these members of the 775th confident when dismantling bombs.

Injuries, or worse, can happen — one airman from the 775th received minor injuries when a projectile cut into his leg after an IED exploded. The crew also lost its beloved robot, Johnny 5, during that same blast.

"It's a dangerous job," Pitts said. "But to go over there and to practice our techniques of rendering safe and disposing hazardous weapons and knowing that we are saving lives, knowing that we're opening up the convoy routes, knowing that we are saving the civilian lives that are over there so people can get a regular government and have freedoms and have water and have electricity — it makes it all worthwhile.

When not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, members of the 775th are assigned to security details for the VIP Protective Support Agency. In May, Haglund and Staff Sgt. Benjamin Horton accompanied President Bush to Moscow for the V-E Day celebrations.

Haglund and Horton swept the president's motorcade, the airport terminal and the entire American Embassy compound for explosives.

"That does take up a fair bit of our time," Haglund said. "Election years can be really crazy."

Members of the 775th continually train out on the Utah Test and Training Range. The explosive ordnance experts routinely sweep the range for unexploded ordnance dropped by F-16 pilots from Hill's 388th and 419th Fighter Wings.

"It's great for us because we help out the wings and keep the range open and safe," Haglund said. "But for us, the benefit is we get to work on live ordnance."

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com