ROADSIDE BOMBS

Shawn Hughes

If my email box is any benchmark, the concern for being ambushed by a roadside bomb is at an all-time high. Which is interesting, because the use of an Improvised Explosive Device to mobility kills or murder the occupants of a passing vehicle is an old and common tactic.

In response, there's an equally large amount of articles, white papers, `lessons learned' and what-have-you recently appearing on the subject. While there is some good information to be learned from a few of these, many provide advice that is impossible to use in the real world. And, quite a few incorrectly base their opinions on current tactics.

In the next few paragraphs, I'm going to discuss what I feel are best practices on the subject. I am not the final or end-say on the topic, and remember that no one tactic fits all situations any more than you can beat a screw in with a handsaw.

Most treatments of the subject exclaim that being very alert for objects along the roadway is a good tactic. I think this is an impossible practice in the majority of the world.

First, the method of concealment is only limited by the bomber. Devices can be buried in the road, concealed in trash, or even appear to be normal things one would find typical in the area (parked bicycle, dead animal, broken-down vehicle, etc.) Due to the inherent hideability of an IED (consider that most historical IEDs' are the size of a muffler, and few are any larger than the typical 55 gallon garbage can) practically ANYTHING could hold enough explosives and shrapnel to be a potential threat to you and your detail.

While in some urban areas the roads are swept regularly, in the majority of the world upkeep is marginal and trash is a common sight. Attempting to avoid every piece of trash or mound on the travel route, especially at speed, would prove to be an impossible task.

Another common tactic is up armoring convoy vehicles. My take on that is a middle-ground one. I do not believe in totally armored vehicles for gun trucks save very specific circumstances, especially if your movement is in an area with limited support.

Speed and maneuverability are not hallmarks of heavily-armored vehicles, but they are two abilities I highly recommend for small-convoy executive and dignitary transports.

Another severe limitation of a highly-armored vehicle is the non- ability of the windows to roll down. Being able to return a high volume of lethal fire has historically proven to be a valuable breaking contact maneuver. Vehicles that have windows that will resist rifle fire won't allow you to do this, as anyone who has tried to shoot through an opened door at 70 MPH can attest. Ambushers who are not immediately and decisively repelled will continue to attack. Historically, in most non-overpass linear ambushes initiated by an IED, the device is at door level or below.

My thought is that the best practice would be to armor the floors and doors, protect the drive train, and obtain run-flat internal bead tire systems. Also consider one of the newer high-performance thin- film bullet-resistant laminate films for the window glass. This configuration gives you increased safety from the blast and fragmentation of an IED, provides you with limited cover from small- arms fire, and the reduced weight allows you the maximum mobility to move while shooting and still allows window movement. I would consider a high-performance soft or thin ceramic / high-density PE armor over earlier previous generation rigid composites, and I would consider the rigid over armor plate or sandbags. Armor plate is too heavy for most applications, and sandbags carry with them several problems. They collect moisture, increasing deadweight; they promote rust, rip and tear, spilling sand into other vehicle components, and are difficult to keep cleaned. In addition, the added weight throws off the center of gravity, and unnecessarily wears out the drive train and suspension.

On the topic of the Road Warrior – Home Edition, I'm not so sure all the blast shields, chicken wire and fencing is a good idea, either. While it may help against hand – thrown and rifle grenade attacks, it is a tradeoff. Adding all that to your vehicle increases your signature to the Bad Guys that something valuable is in that vehicle, and secondly, with all the crap, you decrease your turning, cornering and evasion abilities.

For a rifle team or rescue unit, it may be worth the tradeoffs. For an EP detail, you would be well-served thinking more along the lines of hidden in plain sight. Animals that don't have the luxury of speed or flight usually have protective coloration in their toolbox.

One of my favorite movies of all time, Running Scared with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, is a perfect example of this. After getting their latest unmarked car shot up, they ask their mechanic for something "seen, but not seen. Bulletproof." "Invisible…?" asks the mechanic. "Yeah!" "The others I can do. Invisible, that'll be Tuesday."

His concept? He put the Chicago Detectives in a taxi. Funny, yes, but I think there's a great deal of wisdom in that.

Some forego the armoring route in favor of a high-tech solution. While I don't want to delve too deeply into the topic in a semi- public forum, I don't think that jamming is going to be the `magic- bullet' solution. Keep in mind; these people aren't the Viet Cong.

They don't just kill us with our own trash; they have the Internet and credit cards! All ECM units, whether its' a couple of toy car remotes wired `always-on', all the way to a full-fledged Warlock Red SHORTSTOP all suffer from the same problem: you have, in essence, duct taped a homing beacon to your vehicle. Remember that the terrorists are always looking something unique about you as a trigger (your signature). It is trivial to build a bomb that can sense your ECM output, delay until the signal starts degrading as you pass, then fire.

This brings me to my point: My recommendation to those who ask is for them to be proactive in their security. Look inward and assess your vulnerabilities. The tactics of the terrorists have evolved. They are going head-to-head with PSD teams less and less in favor of remote IED's.

Look at your convoy tactics and procedures with the eye of someone who wants to make their bones killing Americans. How would YOU pick your detail out? YOU know what a motorcade looks like. So do they.

For instance, I think a Tahoe / Suburban is a sweet ride. Clean and polished, they project confidence and capability. Because they are out of the price range of the majority of the indigs you are driving by, they also SCREAM "high-value target" to anyone who would listen.

It is the perfect visual signature for a bomber; they bury a command detonated IED or string of IEDS next to a vertical object like a pole, palm tree, or other terrain feature. They then simply wait on a hilltop or roofline, and when they see a row of SUV's cross their aiming point, they fire the IED.

I understand that a lot of principals don't want to ride in a stinky 3 passenger clown car. But there are many compromises on the road to security. For instance, you could utilize a van. On the outside, it could look dirty, worn, and tired, like most of the other vehicles on the MSR. On the inside, it could be very smartly appointed, with A/C and a DVD player for the principals' comfort.

Besides the vehicles, how about the drivers? In the States, it's fun to run in a close convoy at high speeds. But, what does this profile advertise to the Bad Guys? Same thing for aggressive driving, blocking maneuvers, etc., etc. I am NOT saying that if you feel someone is too close to you at a traffic jam or a signal that you shouldn't pop smoke, or to put another vehicle between you and a stalled car; but many times, restraint and stealth can be more productive than immediate, overt aggressiveness. Also consider that in addition to the Bad Guys, physics and gravity starts working against you above 50 MPH. You may survive an attack running at 100 MPH, but will you survive a blowout or negatively-banked curve?

Same thing for the occupants. There is a set of Oakleys on my dash as I write this, but from what I hear from returning Operators is that simply switching glasses brands or foregoing them altogether and unlearning military bearing goes a long way in decreasing your details' signature while on the move.

Finally, historically, bombers usually ply their trade in a small area. Track recent events, and avoid those locations if possible. Network with other teams as much as OPSEC allows to; keep up with attacks as close to real-time as your mission permits. Websites, such as www.downrangeinfo.com, can help you to keep up.

In a nutshell, what I am trying to say is that the best advice I can give to avoid IED's right now is to decrease your signature and communicate. If they can't spot you, they can't hit you. Next month, when they adapt, my advice may change!