FORT CHAFFEE — The soldiers took a break from the blazing heat Friday, shucking off helmets as they leaned against the pavilion's tall wooden tables piled high with hundreds of pounds of explosives.
Two-foot-tall canisters of high-powered explosives mingled on the tables with boxes packed with bricks of C-4 explosive, blasting caps and yards of detonation cord.
And none of it made these soldiers of Arkansas' 875th Engineer Battalion nervous.
They had just used 200 pounds of explosives to blow a crater more than 18 feet deep and 100 feet wide among the daisies and twisted metal that dot the demolition range. The dirt from the blast left a trail longer than a football field when it fell back to the ground.
Demolition is a major part of the 875th's expertise, but the battalion has not been able to practice it since 2004. In the past five years, the battalion, based in Jonesboro, has beenfocused on deploying to Iraq.
The 875th cleared more than 1,240 bombs off Iraq's main roadways in 2007, returning home in September of that year.
Now, after less than two years at home, the battalion has been told to prepare for a possible deployment to Afghanistan by the end of the year. It is not yet known what its mission might be.
When the 875th was in Iraq, combat engineers weren't allowed to blow up the roadside bombs they found. They had to wait for special explosive-ordinance teams.
As the war in Afghanistan gains steam, combat engineers are again being used as demolition experts. Engineers are trained in everything from clearing mine fields to blowing up and building bridges.
Now they also will clear roadside bombs by using additional explosives to detonate them where they lie.
Spc. Brad Carter of Marion explained how a chain reaction of smaller explosives helps ignite the 50-pound high-explosive device as he and Spc. Gregory Rogers of Lepanto set it in place and prepared to connect a blasting cap.
"It's just like flipping on alight switch," Carter said.
Recalling his last deployment with the battalion, when they hunted roadside bombs in vehicles designed to withstand the blast, Rogers said, "We've been blowed up; now we're just having fun."
Soldiers travel from across the state to be a part of the 875th because of its unique mission.
"I really appreciate what you're doing today. You could be fishing today, but you're here," said Brig. Gen. Roger McClellan, land component commander for the Arkansas National Guard, said after the soldiers had placed explosives in the ground to blow out a crater. "I can tell you how serious a mission this is and how serious your capability is."
Pfc. Jackie Sharp of Caraway was one of only a few soldiers on the range who was not wearing a combat patch. He joined after the last deployment.
"I joined to blow stuff up," he said with a grin. "When you see this next explosion, you'll understand why."
He stood over a hole filled with explosives as McClellan pinned on his new rank of private first class.
"It's not everyday you get promoted over 100 pounds of explosives," Lt. Col. Corey Seats, battalion commander, said with a laugh as he congratulated Sharp.
The soldiers huddled in aconcrete bunker and jockeyed for position to see out the ballistic windows when the call, "Fire in the hole!" went out. The blast tossed dirt past the bunker, and the air filled with the acrid smell and taste of explosive residue.
The soldiers cheered with the blast as the concussion hit their chests.
Back at the pavilion, Sgt. Josh Beasley of Hornersille, Mo., built a makeshift claymore mine, filling a cardboard box with rocks and rigging it with explosives so it would blow in the right direction.
"Normally I'd use metal," he said. "But they'll only let me use rocks here," he said of the shrapnel he'd packed inside.
"We don't get to do this much," he said.
Nearby, Capt. Brad Smart, commander of the 875th's 1,039th Engineer Company, watched as Sgt. William Watt of Tyronza tied detonation cord into knots and loops as he practiced techniques for rigging explosives.
Two 15-pound shape charges - circa 1945 - sat in front of them, and two 50-pound highpowered explosives encircled by 10 pounds of C-4 towered over the table nearby.
"We've got a lot of toys to play with," Watt said. "That's what I like about this job. We're infantry soldiers, but glorified. We can do what they do and blow things up, too."
Arkansas, Pages 11, 20 on 06/20/2009