Jones' unit finds cached ammo in Afghanistan

submitted photo Nevada High School 2001 graduate Ryan L. Jones, a Marine Corps corporal, investigates a cave in Afghanistan while on duty with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. [Click to enlarge]

Nevada Daily Mail

The mountains of Afghanistan are riddled with caves, and it's in this region where Ryan Jones, a 2001 graduate of Nevada High School and a corporal in the United States Marine Corps, hunts for stores of hidden ammunition and supplies.

Jones went into the Marines right after graduation in June, 2001. He is now with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit located at Forward Operating Base Ripley in south-central Afghanistan.

The son of Sally Ann and Randy Lee Jones, he has been part of a group that has discovered and either confiscated or destroyed many caches of weapons including rifles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives or bomb making material, varying pieces of ordinance, and ammunition.

His mother isn't sure where the base he is at is on the map. "I know it's in the south somewhere but I'm just not sure where that is," Sally Jones said. "He's taking part in something called Operation Mountain Storm."

The caches have ranged from a few land mines to large stockpiles of explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. Destroying such deadly instruments requires a great deal more finesse than simply stacking up the arms and ammunition, throwing on some explosives, and lighting a fuse.

"We normally look for a wadi, draw or ravine," explained one Marine EOD technician who stood watching his partner carefully arrange hand grenades and rifle and machine gun ammunition for eventual disposal. "This way we can channel, or direct, the explosion and limit frag and blast."

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Arranging caches for demolition can take anywhere from a few minutes to hours and depends on the size of the cache, items to be destroyed, and method of detonation used.

"So far out here the longest prep time has been an hour and a half," said a Navy chief petty officer from Mobile Unit 4, "and that was for all those RPG (rocket-propelled grenade] rounds we found."

Once the cache is ready to be destroyed, the EOD technicians clear the surrounding terrain to ensure no hapless passerby gets injured by the detonation.

After meticulously recording the contents of the cache, they then radio a the cache's grid coordinate to higher headquarters and wait for the signal to "go hot."

Upon receiving the go-ahead, Marines and Sailors scan the area one more time, ignite an electronic fuse, and head a safe distance away to wait out the explosion.

MEUs are built around a reinforced infantry battalion, a combat service support element, a reinforced helicopter squadron and a command element. With its complement of integrated air and ground forces the unit is ready to conduct operations including boat raids, tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel, non-combat evacuation operations and humanitarian assistance operations.

Jones has been in Afghanistan since February, and has one more year to serve as a Marine, his mother said.