WASHINGTON – The Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar effort to combat makeshift bombs will continue even after the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ends next year.
The bureaucracy that sprung up at the height of fighting in Iraq will be needed for “the inevitable next fight,” said Army Lt. Gen. John Johnson, who leads the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. He took command of the effort this fall and talked about its future in an interview with USA TODAY.
IEDs have been the insurgents’ weapon of choice against American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bombs have killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops and wounded 33,000 more.
In response, JIEDDO has spent nearly $25 billion to buy equipment to protect troops, train them and target bomb-making networks since 2006.
“They’ve caused us a lot of pain,” said Johnson, who commanded troops in Iraq. “It costs us a lot of effort, and a lot of treasure, to counteract the effects of those weapons systems, protect our forces.”
JIEDDO lists improved training, attacking bomb-making networks and fielding robots, spy balloons and blast-proof underwear among its successes. Initiatives that didn’t pan out cost taxpayers $800 million.
The organization will reduce its staff and also become less reliant on contractors. At one point, government employees were outnumbered about 4 to 1 by contractors. That ratio will soon be 1 to 1, he said.
Makeshift bombs have flourished away from war zones. From September 2012 to Oct. 1, 2013, there were more than 15,000 makeshift bomb explosions outside Afghanistan, according to JIEDDO.
IEDs are cheap to make, easy to build and effective, he said. Defusing them is costly and dangerous. Bomb-making expertise has spread from Iraq and Afghanistan to insurgent groups to Syria and other hot spots like Syria and parts of Africa, Boo said.
JIEDDO has “knowledge that you don’t want to lose,” he said.
Makeshift bombs would probably be used by adversaries with a traditional military, like North Korea, Johnson said.
“Even in what we’d consider a conventional environment we would anticipate a significant guerrilla effort,” he said. “Our enemies are not stupid. They have observed us and studied us very closely. Even in a situation like (Korea) they’d anticipate the pain and disruption that IEDs can cause. We expect to see it even in a situation like that.”
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