An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | May 28, 2010

Ohio engineers practice mine-detecting skills in Iraq

By Spc. Brian Johnson 1434th Engineer Company, 16th Engineer Brigade

BAGHDAD, - Training to maintain proficiency with tools designed to accomplish the mission does not stop when Soldiers enter a theater of war.

Soldiers must continue to practice, rehearse and train on all of the equipment that makes them successful by keeping them safe.

Soldiers from Ohio Army National Guard's 1192nd Engineer Company recently took part in important training to refresh and maintain their skills in mine detection.

The five-day course, offered by the U.S. Army Engineer School located here on the Victory Base Complex, is conducted on a regular basis and teaches Soldiers mine identification in both daytime and nighttime environments.

Soldiers must be able to identify all the mines presented during the course in order to pass.

"This course is all about one thing - saving lives," said retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Blackburn, a course instructor. "I am trying to teach Soldiers how to stay alive in a mine situation."

Blackburn said the possibility of encountering a minefield still exists, recalling a recent report from the Helmand province in Afghanistan where NATO forces continue to breech minefields during offensives against the Taliban.

The course was taught by civilian contractors, as well as Staff Sgt. Timothy Torrey, a member of Headquarters Support Company, 101st Engineering Battalion, who said the mine detector the Soldiers are learning to use during this course is more accurate than previous models.

"You get tones and beeps instead of a constant tone," said Torrey. "It allows for a more accurate determination of mines."

The training lanes that the Soldiers must clear have an unspecified number of practice mines. Soldiers are required to find the center of the mine. Making the task more challenging is the fact that the mines they may encounter can be as small as a poker chip or as large as 13 inches.

"It gets people used to looking for different mine types," Torrey said.

At the end of the five-day course, Blackburn said if a Soldier does not have a firm grasp on the mine detector, he does not allow Soldiers to graduate, even if they have passed the end-of-course exam.

"When I sign that certificate saying that [the] Soldier is certified in this piece of equipment, I am saying that I will go out in that minefield with them, and I have the confidence in them," said Blackburn.

He said he believes Iraq and Afghanistan are the best places to train a Soldier on how to properly use a mine detector.

"Mine detecting is not a lost art. Mines are still used in wars. If a Soldier screws up, because they are not sure about this equipment, someone is going to get hurt or killed," Blackburn said.

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...