THE TENSION: Combat Camera: Tip Leads Troops to Bomb Factory in Iraq

Soldiers from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., discovered a home, Oct. 31, in Husseiniyah, Iraq, that contained these 10 fully-formed explosively formed penetrators and enough material to make 150 more. A concerned local citizen led the Soldiers to the cache. Photographer: Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Working off a tip from a concerned local citizen, soldiers from Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., discovered a home, Oct. 31, in Husseiniyah, Iraq, where explosively formed projectiles were being produced. In this photo, a hidden room in the floor contains a large, fully-formed, already-camouflaged EFP, and stacks of C-4 explosives. Photographer: 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Coalition forces, working off a tip from a concerned local citizen, found a large explosively formed projectile cache, including these varying-sized copper disks used to make EFPS, in a home in Husseiniyah, Iraq, Oct. 31. This is the second large EFP cache discovered by coalition forces in Iraq in the past week. Photographer: 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

More than 200 pounds of C-4 explosives and other materials used in making explosively formed projectiles were discovered in a home in Husseiniyah, Iraq, Oct. 31. The discovery is the second time in a week that coalition forces, working off tips from concerned local citizens, have discovered large EFP caches in Iraq. Photographer: Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

A soldier from 1st Platoon, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., holds up a 12-inch copper plate (the largest size found in Iraq) used to pierce armored vehicles when fired from an explosively formed projectile. The plate was part of a large EFP cache discovered in a home in Husseiniyah, Iraq, Oct. 31. Photographer: Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

Dispatches from the Front:

HUSSEINIYAH, Iraq; Nov. 2, 2007 -- A concerned local citizen led coalition forces to a home where explosively formed penetrators and improvised explosive devices were being constructed, Oct. 31, in Husseiniyah, Iraq.

Soldiers of Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., discovered a large cache of explosives at the home, including 10 fully-assembled EFPs of various sizes (including one 12-inch EFP, the largest size found in Iraq), 89 copper plates of various sizes used in making EFPs, more than 200 pounds of C-4 explosive, other explosive materials including TNT, and numerous other materials used in manufacturing EFPs.

“We are getting these weapons off the street, which feels great,” said Sgt. Damon Farmer, team leader with 1st Platoon, Battery A, 2-12 FA, who was one of the Soldiers who first discovered a buried container filled with explosives in an outbuilding outside the home. “That stuff isn’t going to blow up my truck. It isn’t going to kill U.S. Soldiers and it isn’t going to kill Iraqis.”

EFPs are one of the enemies most dangerous weapons, as they are able to pierce armored vehicles. According to 4-2 SBCT officials, they are effective approximately 50 percent of the time, a much higher percentage than the enemy’s other weapons. The EFP is a favored weapon of anti-coalition Shia militias.

“In our area of operations the EFP threat is significant, and there was enough material there to make 100 EFPs, so we may have saved approximately 50 lives and eliminated about two months of (enemy) militia activity,” said Lt. Col John Drago, 2-12 FA commander, noting that the discovery would not have been possible with out Iraqi help.

“The cache was found based on the tip of a local citizen, which is significant because it shows the population is supporting our efforts to provide for their security. There is no doubt in my mind that the information about this find will be well received by the local population and further their willingness to support coalition and Iraqi security forces efforts.”

On Oct. 23, another 4-2 SBCT unit discovered the largest EFP cache ever found in Iraq in Sa’ada village, near Khan Bani Sa’ad, Iraq. That cache included 124 fully-assembled EFPs, 159 copper disks, 600-plus pounds of C4 and other explosive materials, 100 mortar rounds of various caliber, 31 107 mm rockets, two mortar tubes and 20 claymore-type mines.

“Finding this cache along with the other cache in almost the same week delivers a huge blow to the enemy,” Drago said. “This really interdicts their ability to sustain their efforts.”

(Story by Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.)