Navy bomb experts head for a final mission in Iraq

Two dozen Navy bomb experts departed from North Island Naval Air Station here Tuesday to assume responsibility for one of the most dangerous jobs remaining for U.S. military personnel in Iraq: detecting and defusing improvised explosive devices.

The sailors, part of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1, will assume command of the 500-man Joint Task Force Troy, responsible for command and control of explosive ordnance disposal forces throughout Iraq. Part of the yearlong mission is to help teach Iraqi forces how to take over the assignment when the Americans leave by the end of next year.

“The insurgent is opportunistic. He will try to exploit any opportunity,” said Capt. Edward Eidson, the group commander. “It’s our goal not to give them that opportunity.”

Eidson said explosives work is not done as it’s portrayed in the movie “ The Hurt Locker.”

“That is not the way we operate,” he said. “We don’t go out and act like cowboys.”

Lt. Alan Beaty was in Iraq during the invasion of 2003 and later returned to assist a British group.

“Now I’m going back to lock the door and turn off the lights,” he said while his 3-year-old daughter, Samantha, sat on his knee at the air terminal.

Although security has improved in Iraq, roadside bombs and so-called sticky bombs continue to cause death and destruction among Iraqi civilians and security forces and are the weapon of choice of extremist groups, officials said.

As the U.S. looks to withdraw its final 50,000 troops by the end of 2011, tutoring the Iraqi military and police in the intricacies of detection and destruction of explosives is a top priority.

“It’s imperative for the Iraqi forces to be able to protect themselves against these threats,” said Army Col. Barry Johnson, U.S. spokesman in Baghdad. “The training these sailors will be providing is a critical part of the capabilities we want to help Iraqi forces develop.”

Along with roadside bombs buried along major thoroughfares and convoy routes and vehicle-borne bombs, terrorist groups are using the sticky bombs manufactured outside the country to strike at targets like judges, office managers, and police officers, said Iraqi security expert Ali Haidari.

“Their weight is not heavy and their explosion is very strong,” he said. The bombs are slapped onto vehicles stopped at stoplights, sometimes by children on bicycles.

Such bombs and the more random roadside bombs are undermining Iraqis’ belief in their fledgling attempt at democracy. “This is a real drain for the society,” Haidari said.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the fully loaded Air Force C-17 lumbered down the runway at the naval air station for the long flight to Iraq.

“I want my daddy,” cried out 3-year-old Parker Trink, whose father is Chief Petty Officer Donald Trink. His mother, Samantha Trink, said the boy will soon start asking questions about why his father is gone.

“I’ll just tell him that daddy is at work,” she said.

tony.perry@latimes.com

Times staff writers Raheem Salman and Ned Parker in Baghdad also contributed to this article.