Combat Engineers: Force Multipliers in the Fight Against IEDs

Abstract

IEDs are the single greatest cause of American casualties in the current operating environment. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel in the Marine Corps have been designated as the sole subject matter experts of IED reduction and removal. However, the abundant IED encounters and attacks across the Iraq and Afghanistan theater of operations have made the timely reduction of IEDs difficult. As a result, combat engineer Marines should be allowed to blow IEDs in place because there are not enough EOD personnel to handle all IED encounters efficiently, engineers have the resident knowledge of demolitions and initiation devices to destroy IEDs, and cross training with EOD personnel would equip engineers with the ability to facilitate the mobility of units on the roads of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA515474

Entities

People

  • Paul Y. Sok

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan
  • Antihandling Devices
  • Casualties
  • Clearances
  • Communities
  • Demolition
  • Engineers
  • Explosive Charges
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosive Ordnance Disposal
  • Explosives
  • Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Marine Corps
  • Munitions
  • National Security
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Munitions and Ordnance Engineering