FRIDAY FOTO (Oct. 26, 2012) UPDATE

After the Bomb

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christopher Bonebrake

The U.S. military and its coalition partners may be winding down their presence in Afghanistan, but just getting from Point A to Point B can still be a dangerous proposition.

Combat engineers (sappers) of the 20th Engineer Brigade were on their way to Combat Outpost Baraki Barak earlier this month in eastern Afghanistan’s contested Logar Province, when one of their vehicles was hit by a roadside bomb.

In the photo above, we see Army Sgt. Jonathan Butcher, a team leader with 1st Platoon, 102nd Sapper Company, 307th Engineer Battalion (Combat Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade, set up security after the blast until a wrecker could haul away the damaged vehicle and a helicopter could evacuate the wounded.

Logar map and districts
(Via Wikipedia)

If you click on the photo to enlarge the image you can also see the vehicle in question is an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle. The blast dug a wide hole in the road and appears to have damaged at least two wheels, but the MRAP — which has a V-shaped bottom to deflect the blast effects outward — is still upright and the crew/passenger cabin appears to be intact.

One soldier was wounded in the attack. The first platoon cleared a route in the Baraki Barak district to facilitate the movement of supplies to the combat outpost.

Sappers are combat engineers specially-trained to support front line infantry. To see more photos of this mission, click here.