3-1 Cav. Soldiers Wounded in IED Strike

A Soldier from the 789th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, stands in front of the hole left by an improvised explosive device strike July 5, near Tuwaitha.

A Soldier from the 789th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, stands in the hole left by an improvised explosive device strike July 5, near Tuwaitha

By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Five Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were injured in an improvised explosive device strike near Tuwaitha July 5.

Soldiers encountered a complex attack while conducting a combat patrol. Insurgents detonated the IED on an M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle and engaged the patrol with small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade.

As reinforcement came to assist the casualties, they were hit with a secondary IED. No injuries resulted from the second explosion.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Choate Smith, of Houston, Texas, operations non-commissioned officer for the 789th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment, extremists who place the IEDs will change their tactics when they are unable to kill coalition force soldiers.

Although Smith, who volunteered for the troop surge into Iraq, is concerned with insurgent tactics, he speaks highly of the Army training and equipment used to combat explosions like this.

“The battle drills and training also kept these Soldiers alive,” Smith said.

One Soldier was evacuated from the scene by Army helicopters and taken to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad. The Soldier is currently being treated at the Landstuhl Hospital in Germany and is in stable condition. The other four wounded Soldiers were evacuated to the 28th CSH for precautionary reasons.