Leland post! 3 US serviceman injured :(

[davis911s]

Leland please post. I heard that 3 US serviceman were injured while defusing a landmine, just want to make sure that you are sefe and sound. Our prayers go out to the people that were injured, as well as thier families.

God Bless

Shawn

[Early_S_Man]

Shawn,

The three injured were U.S. Marines at the Kandahar airport, so, thankfully, Lee wasn't involved.

http://cnn.worldnews.savethis.clickability.com/st/saveThisApp?clickMap=link&webPadID=K24702580

[davis911s]

Thanks Warren, I just heard it on the radio in my truck. Got me thinking especially considering Lelands branch of workover there.

Great to see it's not him, but soory for the guys who it happened to.

Shawn

[Leland Pate]

Unfortunately it sounds like they were Marine Engineers.
Engineers have a tendency to think that they are EOD in some instances. Mines are one of them. A Combat Engineers mine knoweledge and tools are limited in scope. They are trained to use clearance methods like a flail attachment on a armored vehicle or explosive disruption techniques like line clearing charges. As a general rule they only have limited knoweledge of how mines are designed, emplaced, boobytrapped, and RSPed.
The Army has the same problem, I remember when an Army CE got himself killed trying to defuze a TM-24 in Kosovo. Or during the gulf war when Army Combat Engineers were "PICKING" up very dangerous BLU-97 submunitions and putting them in a pile to get rid of. One of them went, causing the whole pile to go and erased something like a dozen engineers off the planet. The airforce doesn't have "Combat' engineers so we don't usually have that problem with them trying to be heroes.
It sucks though, too bad.