IED Threat

This is a picture of IED holes in the road near the Iraqi police checkpoint. The one on the right has been filled in, the one on the left is more recent. The targets of these IED's are Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security Forces. 3rd platoon in our company was recently hit by an IED consisting of a 155mm artillery round. Luckily the insurgents timing was off and it detonated between two vehicles and only caused minimal damage from shrapnel and rocks. You learn to memorize every aspect of the route including every pile of rocks and dirt, every piece of trash, and every dead animal. Any change could indicate placement of an IED. This is a crazy place to be where any piece of trash or pile of gravel could be the beginning of a very bad day .