Guardsmen get an IED warning

Several Army reservists who now know first-hand about the omnipresent threat of roadside bombs in Iraq have some advice for about 200 Utah Guardsmen about to deploy for the same job of providing security for convoys.

"Go slow and keep your eyes peeled," said Spc. Ryan Taylor on Monday, after hugging his daughter Keelie, 5, at Salt Lake City International Airport.

"They're getting really smart out there," Taylor said about the different ways the people fighting the U.S. soldiers are disguising improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Convoys sometimes are targeted with remote-controlled devices that can be set off using a cell phone. But electronics on board U.S. military "gun trucks" are able to jam those signals, according to Spc. Jeran Warner. And in the year he was in Iraq, Warner saw at least two improvements to vehicle armor, another advantage during a meeting with a cleverly hidden bomb.

"You don't see the enemy," said Warner, 24, who greeted his wife Ashley at the airport. "There's always the IEDs buried well enough that you don't know they're there, until they go off."

About 16 Utah reservists who were assigned to the 423rd Transportation Company, based in Fort Carson, Colo., came home Monday afternoon and evening on chartered flights after spending a year in Iraq. They were part of a 160-soldier unit that provided security support.

Although U.S. troops killed by IEDs account for about one third of the over 3,300 U.S. military members who have died in Iraq since 2003, no one from the 423rd died, although some were injured. The 423rd served over 360 missions on the road, with more than 100 "incidents" involving IEDs.

Meanwhile, this past month was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq this year, with 104 U.S. military members killed, according to The Associated Press on Monday.

Spc. Dustin Moore figures "Heavenly Father" had something to do with keeping everyone in his group alive. "We had somebody else out there looking out for us," Moore said.

The IEDs were a constant threat, regardless of whether the military convoys were transporting water, fuel, food, weapons and ammunition to military bases or humanitarian aid to Iraqis, he added.

Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rosario called his unit's work "rewarding" and said the convoys kept rolling if an IED only caused minor damage to a vehicle. Sometimes, that work included delivering school books, pencils and sports equipment such as donated soccer balls to Iraqi children.

"They love soccer there," Rosario said. His wife, Maria, and their daughter, Tyra, 7, met their "Kico" at the airport with a huge banner that said "Welcome home" in Spanish.

Still, in the next breath, Rosario added, "You don't know what you're going to get on the road."

About 200 members of the Utah National Guard's 116th Construction Support Equipment Company will train at Camp Shelby, Miss., beginning in mid-May before heading to Iraq for convoy security duty. The training will focus on how to spot IEDs before they blow up.

"Keep those eyes open," Rosario said. "Stay focused. The IED threat is really serious over there. The road is very dangerous."

---

E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com