Explosives Disposal

Thunderous booms and reddish orange flames send black smoke boiling into the air. The blast echoes and reverberates. At a distance of a half mile, the blast pressure from the just unleashed explosive forces can be felt against the skin. Even those expecting the sudden shattering explosions - flinch and duck when they go off. An unfortunate miscalculation of the blast radius can have disastrous effects on the rest of your day, or maybe even, your life.

Shrapnel, pieces of metal, rocks and sand blasted into the air by the explosions, continues to rain down for what seems like ten minutes. Some of the Soldiers around you might make the sign of the cross, thanking a higher power that they were far enough away when the blast went off. Thankful that the men planning this job knew what they were doing.

An ICDC operations building too close to a blast like this one in Rabeea felt just such an explosive force on Monday. It was an "oops" day for the men planning the fireworks. A slight miscalculation caused every window on the side of the building facing "the pit" to shatter and blast inward, showering the Iraqi security forces inside with glass and dirt. One poor man brewing tea near a window was peppered with slivers of glass. "Doc" treated him on the spot and one ICDC security policeman got a new nickname - "Patch"