General Leads Effort Against IEDs

Published: March 13, 2010Posted in: Army, DEA, Iran, Threats, afghanistan, bloggers, business, cia, defense, google, iraq, military, pakistan

By Ian Graham Special to American Forces Press Service March 12, 2010 – Improvised explosive devices are one of the most deadly threats to servicemembers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Though they’re often as unsophisticated than a homemade pipe bomb, they have has forced the U.S. military to dedicate entire units to find and destroy them. Army Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates, director of the Joint IED Defeat Organization, discussed the effort to provide comprehensive counter-IED support to warfighters, as well as the organization’s direct support of the surge in Afghanistan, in a “DODLive” bloggers roundtable today. “Although [the organization is] only four years old, a lot of great things have been done,” he said. “But we have a ways to go yet in ensuring that we can provide the equipment and training that’s necessary for our soldiers as the enemy adapts its techniques and procedures.” Oates said he has seen a number of differences between Iraq and Afghanistan concerning the IED threat. Two to three years ago in Iraq, the issue was military-grade weaponry being sold and used in IEDs, with fairly sophisticated detonation equipment that Oates said he believes came from Iranian sources

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General Leads Effort Against IEDs