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16 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday August 25, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com No rest for the weary soldier Continued from page 3 was that talcum powder bombs were being hidden along roadsides in the exercise the same way the Taliban are hiding roadside bombs. When a vehicle gets too close, the bomb detonates showering the vehicle and its occupants with white powder indicating a `kill'. Instructors have also said the ability of the reservists to detect these roadside bombs is increasing with every passing day. "At the very beginning, quite frankly, they were rolling up and sometimes past the IEDs, not even noticing them, getting that nice talcum powder shot," said Mann. "Then we were finding they were being a little bit more suspicious than they needed to be, which really slowed things down. We had convoys stopping for virtually anything sitting on the side of the road, a pop can, an empty vehicle. Now, they've got that sort of middleground where they're not stopping for everything that looks different on the roadway, but they are identifying those things that are truly suspicious. They're catching on to those indicators that we've taught them that there may be an IED there." For the soldiers of the 32nd Combat Engineer Regiment, who were on the receiving end of this training, the experience was intense. "We've been really busy," said Sapper (engineeer's equivalent of a private) Louis Chow, a soon-to-be Seneca student in Police Foundations, who has family in Oakville. "We've been doing lots of engineer stuff like constructing wire obstacles for the infantry, to help DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER ABOUT TO EMBARK: Sappers Matt Copland, Ramona Pesch and Louis Chow enjoy a moment of peace before heading out into the field in search of three anti-tank mines they are charged with demolishing. protect the base of operations. We've been clearing routes of IEDs. We did a three-kilometre stretch one night while a section of infantry provided us with protection. We didn't find any IEDs on that run." The heavy pace of operations for Chow and his section of about eight soldiers continued on Aug. 19, beginning at 5 a.m. when they were tasked with moving out into the field and detonating three anti-tank mines that were supposedly located by local villagers. To get there, the soldiers jump into the back of an LSVW (Light Support Vehicle Wheeled), essentially a covered pick-up truck, and join a small convoy as it rumbles "We're spread out, so if one of us hits a mine or gets shot at, we don't all die." Sapper Ramona Pesch towards the location of the mines. The conversation is light as the soldiers move towards their objective with talk about a hilariously obscene episode of South Park being interrupted only sporadically as the bumpy ride repeatedly jars the soldiers from their seats. "We usually have a better ride than this," said one soldier, referring to the SEV (Specialty Equipped Vehicle) they normally travel in. "It broke down the other day. It had padded seats and was a lot more stable to ride in than this one is." While the soldiers sitting closest to the LSVW's ramp participate in the conversation, their eyes are fixed on the road behind them. With their weapons at the ready these soldiers squint against the plumes of dust, kicked up by the convoy, which coats everything and everyone in the LSVW's cabin. As the last vehicle in the convoy, these soldiers know that if an attack comes from behind, they will be the first to face it. Suddenly, the vehicle rolls to a stop as does all casual conversation when the soldiers hear their Master Corporal's orders to dismount and assume a defensive position around the vehicle. In a matter of seconds, the soldiers are in place with some laying on the ground to the rear of the vehicle with C6 machine guns pointed back down the road. Others crouch at the sides of the vehicle with C7 assault rifles scanning the tall grass on either side for any sign of trouble. A suspicious vehicle is parked on the side of the road ahead of the convoy. Those in charge feel an investigation is required, so the engineers man their positions to the rear to wait. After a while, the chirping of crickets seems almost deafening and the possibility of an ambush seems very real, but this time the enemy is not there. The vehicle ahead of the convoy is deemed to be no threat, so the soldiers are ordered to jump back in the LSVW and the convoy moves on. Upon arrival at the designated area, six soldiers move out in search of the mines, their path eventually leading them to a large, empty field. This terrain prompts the Master Corporal in charge to conduct the search for the mines in a unique fashion, changing the formation of the engineers into a large arrow with about 20 feet between each soldier. "We're spread out, so if one of us hits a mine or gets shot at, we don't all die," said Sapper Ramona Pesch, who is also a veterinary technician in Milton. For the next hour, the soldiers See Boredom page 17 DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER ON THE LOOKOUT: A soldier of the 32nd Combat Engineers Regiment scans the horizon for any sign of enemy movement.