--- title: "How troops use a combat scythe in Afghanistan" date: "2020-02-05" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Tim Kirkpatrick" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/tkirkpatrick.md" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/how-troops-use-a-combat-scythe-in-afghanistan/" categories: - "History" - "Marine Corps" - "Tactical" --- # How troops use a combat scythe in Afghanistan ![]() Picture yourself on a foot patrol in Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world where the majority of the population hates the fact that you're there. --- Now, imagine you're the "lead" of that foot patrol (typically the combat engineer who is looking for IEDs buried in the ground) and you spot a suspicious device ahead with a command wire sticking out of the dirt. For most of us, it's not a good idea to approach, especially if that wire trails off toward a nearby compound — it's a freaking trap. But for troops serving in Afghanistan, it's just another day at the office. ![]() *Counter-IED teams locate roadside bombs using Valon metal detectors. (Photo from Army.mil)* Although most IEDs are considered primitively built with limited resources, the grunts on the ground have a clever way of dealing with 'em: the combat scythe. ### Related: [This is what it was like fighting alongside Afghan troops]() Famously known as an agricultural tool, ground pounders use them to conduct a "hands-on" inspection of a potential threat from up to 12-feet away. The operator will extend out the scythe and use its rounded tip to tug and drag out the device for an exam. ![]() *A Marine and his trusty scythe will never run out of batteries. (USMC photo by Cpl. William J. Jackson)* By deploying his trusty scythe, a troop can safely determine if that bump in the ground is indeed an IED and call for a controlled detonation of the affected area. Of course, if it's a false alarm, then that foot patrol proceeds onward without fear. Not every IED can be figured out with a solid poking, though. If that IED is trickier than usual, the patrol will call upon the services of Explosive Ordnance Disposal to access and, typically, blow the sh\*t out of the device. On the bright side, controlled detonations are pretty epic to watch. They're allied forces' way of telling the bad guys ,"Not today, f\*cker." That is all. ## Author Tim Kirkpatrick entered the Navy in 2007 as a Hospital Corpsman and deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion 5th Marines in the fall of 2010. Tim now has degrees in both Film Production and Screenwriting. tim.kirkpatrick@wearethemighty.com ## More - [These are the insane dangers of being a combat engineer]() - [8 of the most terrifying Vietnam War booby traps]() - [How a deadly insurgent sniper in Iraq taunted his pursuers]() - [5 important rules every grunt should follow in a foot patrol]() - [CSI Battlefield: 7 ways forensic science is used in war]() - [Why the safest place to be in combat might be in a British Challenger tank]() - [Delta Force copied insurgents’ use of IEDs with ‘XBox’]() - [7 of the best sounds you’ll hear in combat]()