BiH’s soldiers serve in Iraq with pride

08/05/2006

SETimes correspondent Antonio Prlenda accompanied a state delegation from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as it visited the 36-strong BiH contingent in southern Iraq. In this exclusive report, he follows the BiH platoon as it goes about identifying and disposing of conventional unexploded ordnance -- a job which is essential to stopping insurgents from making improvised explosive devices to harm Iraqi civilians and Coalition troops. The BiH soldiers, who represent all three of the country's constituencies, have put ethnic tensions behind them as they demonstrate their expertise and professionalism. They have taken on a dangerous mission and accomplished it well, say Coalition officers.

Text and photos by Antonio Prlenda for Southeast European Times in Tallil – 08/05/06

The job of the 36 soldiers from BiH is to clean a former complex of more than 100 ammunition storage facilities. [All photos by Antonio Prlenda]

The second rotation of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Platoon of the BiH Armed Forces will finish its six-month shift in Iraq this month. Thirty-six soldiers from all three constituent ethnic groups in BiH have been deployed since December 2005, when they replaced the first EOD BiH rotation in the coalition forces camp Taqaddum in the area of Fallujah.

On 20 February they transferred to the coalition base Tallil, 20km southwest of Nasiriyah, in the area of responsibility of the Multi-National Division -- South East. Their mission is to support the coalition forces in the identification, disposal and destruction of conventional unexploded ordnance (UXO), thus reducing the insurgents' ability to make improvised explosive devices (IED), releasing engineering resources of the coalition forces and enhancing the security of the coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.

At Tallil, the EOD BiH works within the 648th Engineering Battalion of the 48th Brigade Combat Team, originally part of the United States Georgia Army National Guard from Macon. The job of the 36 soldiers from BiH is to clear a former complex of more than 100 ammunition storage facilities used by Saddam Hussein's regime. The storehouses were destroyed during the 2003 airstrikes and, subsequently, by Coalition infantry on their way to Baghdad.

During a recent visit by a BiH state delegation to Tallil, the 48th Brigade Commander Brigadier General Stewart Rodeheaver did not hide his enthusiasm about BiH soldiers.

"Thank you for sending us such good soldiers. They are doing a dangerous job, and they are doing it extraordinary well," Rodeheaver said.

The BiH soldiers at their platoon’s command post at Tallil.

The cadre selected for the mission consists of combat-experienced professional soldiers who volunteered and accomplished five months of specialised training. The average age of the second rotation is 34 and there is one female medical soldier among them.

On the site, the BiH soldiers usually work between 9am and 5pm every day except Friday and Sunday. In addition to the 15-minute drive to the site, the stony terrain on which they have to find, identify and remove UXO presents a particular danger to them. The Platoon is divided into teams. They work simultaneously, each team on its "own" former storehouse, now just a crater full of stones, iron and UXO. Artillery shells, mortar and rifle grenades are their most usual "catch".

"Being the commander of the unit I am very impressed by the work of my fellow soldiers. They are great professionals who are well aware of their mission, so we have no problem," said Captain Draze Guto, who lives in Eastern Sarajevo. "The American colleagues are very friendly and they are treating us very professionally. They are treating us as though we are a US unit! We have received all logistical and security support from them."

The deputy platoon leader is Captain Amir Hibic, a bearer of the Golden Police Badge, which is one of the highest war decorations of the former Bosniak-led Republic of BiH forces during the BiH conflict. He stresses there is no problem with ethnic differences within the unit at all.

"Nobody here thinks about that. We are all good professionals and comrades, who just want to do their job properly," said Hibic. "The basic point for this job is to be concentrated and do not rush. Speed can kill you in this job," says Captain Predrag Viskovic from Bugojno.

The BiH soldiers work with their own hands, with demining sticks and soldiers' shovels. The job is particularly complicated because of high temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius, while they expect it will be much higher soon. They dispose of all iron and parts of grenades at one spot. Grenades with their igniters on are placed at another spot and marked with a small yellow flag. If there is a particularly dangerous or suspicious UXO, they mark it with a red flag and conduct a blow-up in place (BIP).

The BiH military convoy leaves the base, 20km southwest of Nasiriyah.

During our visit, every found UXO was taken to the truck and transported to the demolition site. The platoon collected a couple of hundred heavy grenades that day and blew them up at the site with a remote controlled explosion from safe distance. An unexploded shell can be sold for a $100 on the black market and used by terrorists as an IED. That is why the site is carefully guarded by coalition troops and private Iraqi and international security companies.

The BiH state delegation of nine officials was led by the BiH Deputy Minister of Defence Marina Pendes and the Chief of the BiH Joint Staff Lieutenant General Sifet Podzic. According to Pendes, the work of the unit is a good example to every member of the new joint BiH Armed Forces.

"This professionalism presents our ticket for a membership in the NATO Partnership for Peace programme in the near future," she said. "It also proves our readiness to fulfil our internationally taken obligations and to actively participate in the world security."

"I have no doubt that our soldiers will be able to do their task properly," said Podzic. "The mission is going according to plan and I am glad to see that our coalition partners are also satisfied."

"We are proud to see our soldiers doing such a useful work for the people of Iraq,” concluded Bosko Siljegovic, the head of the commission on security and defence at the BiH state parliament, who was also with the delegation.