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TOW Platoon Strikes Out At Insurgent Threats

by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly

TOW Platoon made the drive to keep roads outside Fallujah safe Dec. 16.

Lance Cpl. Tyler W. Johnson, a 20-year-old driver with Stryker Section, TOW Platoon, 1st Tank Battalion, assigned to B Company, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, from Phoenix, peers into the back of a car to look for any contraband, weapons or materials to make improvised explosive devices outside Fallujah Dec. 16. The section drove up and down a main supply route outside Fallujah to search and clear any IEDs or insurgent threats. The section ensures that the MSR is safe for military and civilian convoys to travel. (photo by Lance Cpl. Bryan Eberly)

Marines with Stryker Section, TOW Platoon, 2nd Tank Battalion assigned to B Company, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, drove up and down a main supply route outside Fallujah in search of improvised explosive devices and insurgent threats.

"If we don't, then all the convoys are going to face all the IEDs and a lot of activity, insurgent activity, goes along down mobile, so we got to do our part to try to stop it," said Lance Cpl. Tyler W. Johnson, a 20-year-old driver from Phoenix.

Marines spent hours driving through the route, keeping their eyes peeled to all parts of the road for anything suspicious that could be a threat.

The first suspicion Marines came across was a car on the side of the road, which was involved in a roll-over accident.

"It was obviously a pretty bad crash," said Sgt. Jonathan S. Mallard, the 30-year-old section leader for Stryker Section, from Orlando, Fla. "Most likely the roads were wet this morning from the rain last night, and they were going really, really fast and lost control of the vehicle."

Marines declared the car clear of explosives and Mallard called Combat Logistics Battalion 5 to tow away the vehicle.

The convoy continued down the route only to be stopped by a car that swerved into their lane. The car was halted and searched.

"We routinely conduct what we call snap VCPs, vehicle checkpoints, and we just pick random, basically random cars or vehicles that look suspicious," Mallard said.

The car was clear of any contraband. The vehicle belonged to a group of farmers carrying produce and animal medication.

The peak of the mission came as the section came across what looked like two IEDs. Marines still handled the situations as if they were real explosives, Mallard said.

"We treat all of them real," he said.

Although searching for IEDs can be tense, these Marines find relief in finding explosives, said Pfc. Xavier W. Webb, a 20-year-old dismount from Muskogee, Okla.

"When you do find them, you know you're actually doing something with your job," Webb said. "So it's kind of nice to find them and just to get them off the road."

At the end of the mission, Marines knew they did their part to stop the violence along the route, Johnson said.

"You know they're not going to hurt anybody else," Webb said.

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