Kyobanim
08-06-2004, 08:41
Something I ran across during my research
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.2/demca/southcom.htm
"Special Forces Lead U.S. Demining Efforts in Central America"
Major Thomas McCollum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High in the rugged mountains of Honduras, along its border with Nicaragua, clouds envelope a thick forest as a small group of soldiers move on paths outlined in bright yellow plastic tape. At the end of a trail, a soldier moves slowly with a metal detector sweeping back and forth across the ground. The tic-tic-tic sound in his headset changes pitch to a tac-tac-tac. He concentrates on a small area next to a tree. The sound changes again to a solid, dull tone.
"He's located what could be a mine," Sgt. 1st Class Walter D. Finch, Jr. said. Finch, a member of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., went to Central America to help remove mines placed there during the Sandanistas' control of Nicaragua.
"He'll mark the spot with a reflective, yellow X. Another soldier will come and probe the area to locate and identify what it is the first guy found," the 38-year-old Raleigh, N.C., native said. "If it is a mine, they'll place explosives around it, and blow it in place. These mines have been here so long, you don't dare try and remove it. Destroying it is safer and faster."
The second soldier carefully bends down on his knees and slowly pokes a wooden stick into the ground. As the stick works its way into the ground, it suddenly stops. The soldier removes the stick and probes near this spot. He locates the outline of the metal object and begins to clear the ground away from it -- a piece of junk metal. A sense of relief, and disappointment, is evident in his face. He gets up and the slow, meticulous procedure starts again.
The soldiers are members of the Mision Asistencia Para la Remocion de Minas en Centro America (MARMINCA). The MARMINCA is made up of soldiers from the United States, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. It is based in Danli, Honduras. The mine removal mission falls under the control of the Inter-American Defense Board and the Organization of American States.
The U.S. elements supporting the demining operations and MOMENCA are lead by 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Bragg, N.C. The commander of this demining element is Maj. Lentfort Mitchell Sr., 33, from Wando, S.C.
"The MOMENCA has peaked as far as each country doing their own demining operation," Mitchell said. "We are now starting to transition to combined cross-border type operations. For instance, Nicaragua and Honduras will work an area together, with each on their own side of the border, to clear an area."
Mitchell has Special Forces soldiers, commonly referred to as "Green Berets," teaching and supervising demining operations in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. "Our end-state for demining is for each country involved to conduct self-sustaining demining operations. The U.S. will still need to be involved as a facilitator for support."
Working out of Danli, Mitchell also serves as a special assistant to the MOMENCA commander. Additionally, he is the facilitator of all resource management and logistical resupply. Assisting him in these functions is Master Sgt. Charles C. Simpson, the operations sergeant for the demining mission.
"My main challenge is to keep the logistics going," Simpson said, a 10-year Special Forces veteran. "The distances we have to deal with are tremendous. From here to Soto Canto, our logistical base, is basically a three to four hour drive. Then we have to get the logistics from there to the three countries we are working in,–Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. So far everything has gone well. The cards are playing right."
Working in a split-team concept, with half his force in Nicaragua and the other half in Costa Rica, the demining operations in both countries are lead by Capt. David P. Fitchitt, a graduate of Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.
"I never thought I would be in Nicaragua," Fitchitt, commander of Operational Detachment Alpha 715, said. "I think this is great, supporting the MOMENCA and the OAS. We are able to make a contribution to their efforts to remove the mines and to protect the Nicaraguan population. Also we're representing the United States, and Special Forces particularly, in a favorable light, particularly in a country like this where we are just getting into and have minimal military presence. This is a real good opportunity to further the relationship between Nicaragua and the U.S."
The mines in Nicaragua were employed by the Sandanista government to keep guerrilla organizations away from bridges and power lines. A Special Forces medical sergeant assisting the demining operation there is Staff Sgt. Scott T. Festa. Festa has more than 10 missions in Central and South America during the five years he has been in 7th SFG(A).
"I'm really impressed with all of the safety measures that they take and their techniques," Festa, of Lake Wales, Fla., said. "We had gone to two engineering schools in the U.S. to receive the standard requirements for demining, and a lot of the stuff that they taught us you could throw out the window compared to the safety measures the Nicaraguans employ. They are more thorough because they do it all of the time. They find that some of the techniques don't work, or they can make them work better because they are actually doing it. It is their real-world use that has given them an effective edge.
"The Special Forces team that was down here before us, ODA 754, trained them very well in their basic primary care to get someone out of the minefield. They started at 38 minutes but worked it down to where the guy is out of the minefield in nine minutes with all of the holes in the body plugged and the bleeding stopped."
Also represented in Nicaragua are soldiers from El Salvador, Colombia and Venezuela. In addition, the Military Information Support Team from the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), also headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., is assisting in educating the local population on the dangers of the land mines and what they should do if they locate one.
"We've prepared calendars, shopping bags and school supplies that the people can use that have mine warnings and instructions on them," Maj. Ronald Walters, MIST leader said. "They've proven to be very popular with them, and useful for us."
http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/2.2/demca/southcom.htm
"Special Forces Lead U.S. Demining Efforts in Central America"
Major Thomas McCollum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High in the rugged mountains of Honduras, along its border with Nicaragua, clouds envelope a thick forest as a small group of soldiers move on paths outlined in bright yellow plastic tape. At the end of a trail, a soldier moves slowly with a metal detector sweeping back and forth across the ground. The tic-tic-tic sound in his headset changes pitch to a tac-tac-tac. He concentrates on a small area next to a tree. The sound changes again to a solid, dull tone.
"He's located what could be a mine," Sgt. 1st Class Walter D. Finch, Jr. said. Finch, a member of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., went to Central America to help remove mines placed there during the Sandanistas' control of Nicaragua.
"He'll mark the spot with a reflective, yellow X. Another soldier will come and probe the area to locate and identify what it is the first guy found," the 38-year-old Raleigh, N.C., native said. "If it is a mine, they'll place explosives around it, and blow it in place. These mines have been here so long, you don't dare try and remove it. Destroying it is safer and faster."
The second soldier carefully bends down on his knees and slowly pokes a wooden stick into the ground. As the stick works its way into the ground, it suddenly stops. The soldier removes the stick and probes near this spot. He locates the outline of the metal object and begins to clear the ground away from it -- a piece of junk metal. A sense of relief, and disappointment, is evident in his face. He gets up and the slow, meticulous procedure starts again.
The soldiers are members of the Mision Asistencia Para la Remocion de Minas en Centro America (MARMINCA). The MARMINCA is made up of soldiers from the United States, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. It is based in Danli, Honduras. The mine removal mission falls under the control of the Inter-American Defense Board and the Organization of American States.
The U.S. elements supporting the demining operations and MOMENCA are lead by 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Bragg, N.C. The commander of this demining element is Maj. Lentfort Mitchell Sr., 33, from Wando, S.C.
"The MOMENCA has peaked as far as each country doing their own demining operation," Mitchell said. "We are now starting to transition to combined cross-border type operations. For instance, Nicaragua and Honduras will work an area together, with each on their own side of the border, to clear an area."
Mitchell has Special Forces soldiers, commonly referred to as "Green Berets," teaching and supervising demining operations in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. "Our end-state for demining is for each country involved to conduct self-sustaining demining operations. The U.S. will still need to be involved as a facilitator for support."
Working out of Danli, Mitchell also serves as a special assistant to the MOMENCA commander. Additionally, he is the facilitator of all resource management and logistical resupply. Assisting him in these functions is Master Sgt. Charles C. Simpson, the operations sergeant for the demining mission.
"My main challenge is to keep the logistics going," Simpson said, a 10-year Special Forces veteran. "The distances we have to deal with are tremendous. From here to Soto Canto, our logistical base, is basically a three to four hour drive. Then we have to get the logistics from there to the three countries we are working in,–Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. So far everything has gone well. The cards are playing right."
Working in a split-team concept, with half his force in Nicaragua and the other half in Costa Rica, the demining operations in both countries are lead by Capt. David P. Fitchitt, a graduate of Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.
"I never thought I would be in Nicaragua," Fitchitt, commander of Operational Detachment Alpha 715, said. "I think this is great, supporting the MOMENCA and the OAS. We are able to make a contribution to their efforts to remove the mines and to protect the Nicaraguan population. Also we're representing the United States, and Special Forces particularly, in a favorable light, particularly in a country like this where we are just getting into and have minimal military presence. This is a real good opportunity to further the relationship between Nicaragua and the U.S."
The mines in Nicaragua were employed by the Sandanista government to keep guerrilla organizations away from bridges and power lines. A Special Forces medical sergeant assisting the demining operation there is Staff Sgt. Scott T. Festa. Festa has more than 10 missions in Central and South America during the five years he has been in 7th SFG(A).
"I'm really impressed with all of the safety measures that they take and their techniques," Festa, of Lake Wales, Fla., said. "We had gone to two engineering schools in the U.S. to receive the standard requirements for demining, and a lot of the stuff that they taught us you could throw out the window compared to the safety measures the Nicaraguans employ. They are more thorough because they do it all of the time. They find that some of the techniques don't work, or they can make them work better because they are actually doing it. It is their real-world use that has given them an effective edge.
"The Special Forces team that was down here before us, ODA 754, trained them very well in their basic primary care to get someone out of the minefield. They started at 38 minutes but worked it down to where the guy is out of the minefield in nine minutes with all of the holes in the body plugged and the bleeding stopped."
Also represented in Nicaragua are soldiers from El Salvador, Colombia and Venezuela. In addition, the Military Information Support Team from the 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), also headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C., is assisting in educating the local population on the dangers of the land mines and what they should do if they locate one.
"We've prepared calendars, shopping bags and school supplies that the people can use that have mine warnings and instructions on them," Maj. Ronald Walters, MIST leader said. "They've proven to be very popular with them, and useful for us."