First off, assuming you even ID a guy with a phone before you get into a potential IED blast zone, you halt, dismount, detain him. Check his phone. Look through it for commonly dialed numbers, hit redial on them, see if that does anything (it probably won't since they probably just gave him the number and he never personally tested the detonator, but it's worth a shot). Worst case, if you really get a feeling you got a bad guy, just take his phone. Have him walk with you through the area for a hundred meters or two. Look for signs of an emplaced IED, keep an eye on him for his reaction to walking through the area.
There's lots you can do. And all of it could be wrong and you could still get blown up, but that's just how the game is played.
can’t tell you how many times I could have shot someone, didn’t and they put their weapon down.
Same here. But it was imperative that we only opened up on targets that clearly (or even mostly clearly) needed killing.
Would the brass back us...? My battalion commander was very clear even before we deployed--as long as there was a reason behind what we did, he would back us all the way. If we just did something for the sake of doing it ("It seemed like the thing to do at the time.") then he'd feed us to the dogs.
I could live with that, and I did. It took some quick decision making sometimes, but it wasn't all that bad.
thanks FSS...still wouldn’t want to be in that situation at all
and for the record...am NOT military, just so there is no confusion
however am currently in one of the war zones as a contractor - are we allowed to call them that still - and damn if just driving to and fro doesn’t contract the sphincter a wee bit
nothing like working in the hood as the po-po...