Gates sets up new counter-IED task force

[unhappycamper]

An improvised explosive device is detonated by soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry after its location was shown to them by Iraqi Sunni fighters in Diyala province in March 2008.


Gates sets up new counter-IED task force
By John T. Bennett - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Nov 12, 2009 21:01:48 EST

ABOARD DEFENSE SECRETARY’S PLANE — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has established a senior-level task force to streamline the efforts of military services and agencies to find and destroy roadside bombs, which have plagued American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The task force will be led by Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Paxton, the Joint Staff’s director for operations J-3, Gates told reporters Thursday aboard his jet en route to a military vehicle factory in Wisconsin.

The secretary said he wants the counter-improvised explosive device (IED) task force “to break down the stove pipes” that keep various anti-bomb groups scattered across the military services and agencies from working together. He also wants the new group to “get the troops what they need.”

Gates said he expects to meet with the task force “monthly” and thinks it will carry out its work for about six months. The task force will examine both offensive and defensive counterbomb tactics and tools, he said.

Gates told reporters it recently became clear to him that he had to place counter-IED efforts “among my top priorities.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/defense_gates_IEDs_111209/

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. How about leaving there instead?