Humvee soldiers mark time on a dusty road
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

above: Spc. Daniel Wallace keeps watch in the turret of his Humvee near Yusifiyah, Iraq. PHOTOS/DOUG GRINDLE

Editor's note: For the next six weeks, our Marlborough Community Reporter Doug Grindle will once again be embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. While there, he plans to send us articles whenever he can to provide our readers with glimpses of what is going on in the region.

Many thanks to Doug and other journalists like him who put themselves in harm's way so that those of us safe at home can be well-informed.

The following is his first contribution from Iraq.

Outside Yusifiyah, Iraq - Three soldiers sit in their Humvee, while in front of them a lawn mower does its work.

But this isn't an ordinary lawn mower. A big diesel engine is bolted to the back of a five-ton truck. The engine is attached to a flexible 30- foot arm. And at the end of the arm is a mower, weighing several hundred pounds.

Today it is ripping through piles of brush and scrub at the side of a road in the countryside southwest of Baghdad. The mower is here so the insurgents have a harder time laying roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), beside the road. This stretch of road is one of the worst in the district for IEDs. So cutting back the brush makes it harder for the enemy to conceal them. In Iraq, a few extra feet between an explosion and an American vehicle can make a big diff erence. Take away the scrub and it's easier to spot the bombs, too.

left: Sgt. Derek Defelice walks on the road near Yusifiyah, Iraq.

So the mower is a good idea. But it makes for a slow day. Sgt. Derek Defelice from Waterville, Maine; Sgt. Pablo Rivera Martinez from Carolina, Puerto Rico; and Spc. Daniel Wallace from Virginia Beach, Va., sit in their heavily armored Humvee, armed to the teeth. As impressive a fighting unit as they are, this day they are just following the mower, about 30 yards behind, as it moves down the road at a steady three miles per hour, pulling security.

In reality, this is not a typical day for these three. Their Humvee is one of four that make up the personal security detail (PSD) for their battalion. Their real job is escorting their commanding officer, a lieutenant colonel, around the district. Where he goes, they go: to the villages, towns and bases dotting the area. But today the colonel is staying on base, so the PSD is out here.

The three are happy enough to be out here. Roadside bombs are the numberone killers in Iraq, and this stretch of road is only a mile from the main base at Yusifiyah, which is located in the heart of the so-called Triangle of Death, the name the Sunni insurgents give to the surrounding area, bounded by roads and a river and known for its deadly attacks. The mowers are a new tactic to counter the IEDs, which these soldiers said is a good thing. But the slow day consists of driving out to this road, mowing for several hours at a steady, sedate pace, and driving home.

These fellows know personally all about IEDs. Their PSD section has been hit by five of them in the year it has been operating in Iraq. One burned a Humvee to the ground, but without major casualties. Another one blew out the back tires of a Humvee. Others have narrowly missed as well.

One day a bomb went off just after the Humvee rolled past. The insurgents were about a second late pulling the trigger.

"They got too anxious," Wallace said.

In this area there is little rhyme or reason to where and when the charges go off . It can happen any time. One area can be bad for a while and then get better. A good area can get worse, too.

"For a couple of months, it's bad in one place and then it changes," Rivera Martinez said.

There is the problem of snipers, too, but it's a minor threat compared to the bombs.

"Luckily a lot of them can't shoot," Wallace said. But he added, "Some can."

Wallace sits in an armored turret under a shade that protects him from the sun and makes it harder for snipers to see where his head is.

Lately things in this sector have improved. Attacks are down by about 90 percent, the officers said. Several tribes of Sunnis began fighting with al Qaeda in November 2006 throughout this area, which stretches about 15 to 25 miles southwest of Baghdad. Within the last two months, they have taken up arms alongside the Americans, and American patrols now check in with fighters at the checkpoints that dot the area. The Americans call them "volunteers." Ironically many of these assault-rifletoting fighters were a few months ago setting roadside bombs against the Americans.

The three soldiers in this Humvee are here for 15 months total, and their tour is up in November. They've been together the whole time. It has worked for them.

"I think it's good," Rivera Martinez said. "You know how people are and how they react."