War's Risks Include Toll on Training Values

[Tom Odom]

My own "IED" experience was Lebanon: one Austrailian friend KIA and a Canadian friend WIA due to what probably was 2 stacked AT mines along a road we all (UN Unarmed Observers AKA Targets) used. Blew the block out of a CJ8 and dug a 6-7 foot hole in the road.

Same same Rwanda; the former military was not much on manuever but it did use its engineers and bag of nasty tricks. Common technique was a squad-platoon mechanical ambush using 6-8 mortar rounds wired together in a cluster, sometimes with more than a single cluster. Devestating if a patrol or small unit tripped it. They also put out deliberate traps; favorite technique was to wire blue training ordnance to live. I met an Aussie EOD type when I first got in country who almost fell for that one by picking up a blue mortar or AT grenade (he was not sure) when he felt a trip wire underneath. Wisely he blew it in place. Dummest former Rwandan Army soldier I ever "met": set AP mines along the front slope of his fighting position (not a good move unless you know you plan to bug out and even then questionable). He did try to bug out but he got hit from behind and crawled out through the firing port.

Lawrence used "IEDs" to cut the Turks rail lines in WWI. The South Africans have a wealth of counter-mine, counter-"IED" experience from operations against SWAPO; some of those lessons are in use. There are so many examples in history; again, slogans are grabbers and grabbers draw attention.
Best
Tom