By Lance Corporal Matt Blackbourn
19 December 2007
In late October 2007, the latest NZ Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZ PRT) contingent flew into a hot and sunny central Bamyan, Afghanistan. As the handover period came to an end, and the last of the previous rotation left Kiwi Base for the New Zealand summer, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team dived enthusiastically into our in-theatre job and prepared for winter.
For the EOD team, the pace was relentless from the start. While trying to standardise the EOD kit and vehicle, we were frequently deployed outside of Kiwi Base on other tasks. These tasks included callouts to single munitions that locals had found on the roads or in their grazing areas, as well as bulk collections of ammunition.
One task was conducted in the Saygan district, located approximately four hours drive north of Kiwi Base. In a small village called Chinar, a local man had excavated four large rockets which were buried 20m behind his house. The story went that about 7 or 8 years earlier a Taliban truck carrying ammunition and explosives had crashed close to the village. The villagers “collected” the cargo and hid it from the Taliban owners. They buried the rockets and only now, 8 years later, reported it to the Afghan National Police.
The EOD team deployed early one morning accompanied by its own security element, a member of the Afghan National Police, and Kiwi Patrol Three. The Afghan National Police had been to the house and seen the rockets a few days previously. On arrival we discovered that the larger two of the four rockets were still partially buried, and needed to be excavated.
We determined they were safe to move, however they were too large to fit on our vehicles to transport them to Kiwi Base. Through our interpreter, we consulted the village Head, and determined there was a site we could use for demolition a few kilometres up the road.
So with the rockets on our shoulders, the team and a couple of eager-to-help locals, walked the rockets up to the road. At over 60kg a piece, and wearing body armour, helmet, webbing and weapon, the 900m walk turned into a gruelling slog over terrain criss-crossed with drainage ditches and steams. At the road, we brought the vehicles up, temporarily secured the rockets to the decks and slowly drove them up the road to the demolition site.
There, we offloaded and prepared the rockets for destruction while our security team kept a watchful eye on the surrounding hills. Half an hour later, everyone retired to the firing and sentry points where Private Tate, patrol medic, did the honours by pressing a button and detonating the rockets.
Since then we have undertaken numerous tasks, including a small scale demolition where all collected ammunition was destroyed. Now, two months into the tour as the snow and cold weather is slowing down the flow of tasks, we are getting a chance to enjoy some well deserved down time before for the snow melts and brings with it the inevitable rise in the EOD workload.
Ends