for all of us at msnbc news, thanks for joining us. on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against the taliban regime in afghanistan. >> afghanistan has become one of the most dangerous spots earth. the weapon of choice there is ieds. >> they are the number one killer of american troops. >> i got a pressure plate. >> last year, the enemy planted 15,000 new ieds. >> this ain't hollywood. this is afghanistan.

>> now, the platoon is embarking on a deadly five month mission to find the bombs. >> here we are. >> before the bombs find them. >> it's the window of a house. not with those heads popping up. >> right there!

>> 37 eod, we are seeing bodies moving towards our guys that are around that house. >> there he is. he is moving up on our guys. >> shoot to the 9:00! >> shoot! >> come on, fire the [ bleep ] rounds! >> we got somebody that got hit. is there a body outside? >> roger. >> one dismounting at this time. >> can't get himself out. >> watch the eom -- >> we have to get the [ bleep ]

out of here. we have a casualty here! naval base coronado, home of the disposal group one. eod platoon, 342 prepared to deploy for war in afghanistan. >> it's like taking your whole house and stuffing it in containers, and having everything you need to live on for six months. >> brad penley is the commander in the platoon. >> i want to do a good job and make sure my team is taken care of.

>> the hardest part of being deployed is being away from home and family. >> the chief is the most experienced man on the team, and at 44, the oldest. >> i am the leading chief petty officer of the team. i am a mentor to the junior guys. my expectations over there is to take care of things and to hurt people, and get everybody back safely in one piece. >> this team has trained together every day for the last year, and they have become a family and learning to trust each other's instincts. now at the last minute, they see

their team unit broken. >> one of our team members had circumstances where he could not make the deployment, so we had to take on a new guy. >> the new guy has experience of three previous deployments. but now he has to dispose of bombs with a new team. >> you don't know how everybody is, and you don't know how everybody's reactions are, what they will do or won't do. when things get rough out there, you have to rely on your team. things are going to happen, so we will gel real quick. >> for brad and his new bride, caitlin, who is also a navy office, today's good-bye is a rare moment together.

>> i am so lucky today. i got back from my six-month deployment this morning, so i get a chance to send him off the proper way. >> so important to have my wife on the flight line sending me off, i could not think of a better way to have some encouragement. >> it will be five months before the men of this platoon set foot on u.s. soil again. >> after five nonstop days of

travel, the huge c-17 cargo jet is in afghan airspace, and suddenly everybody is feeling a little vulnerable. >> we're about 30 minutes out. platoon 342 catches rides to the operation bases where they will begin operations. >> we are out there clearing away for guys on 12 month deemployments and 18 month deploymen deployments, and we want to get them home to their wives and families. >> today, platoon 342 is

splitting into two separate teams. three of the guys will head out to relieve an outgoing eod team, and the rest of the team will head to the forward operating base griffin. these teammates, friends, brothers, will see each other again in five months, if all goes well. >> forward operating base griffin is home to the army's artillery group and the national afghan army. the five guys will be quartered

here. >> somebody sleeps here? somebody sleeps here. >> that's jeremy's room. >> let's make this place home. >> these converted storage sheds are home sweet home for the duration. >> my palm tree. >> yo, yo, yo, homie, got to check this out. we got our beds up today. we got them raised off the floor so we could have storage room down underneath. me and brendan has our bunks here. we will probably have a tv going

up there and refrigerator, and more shelving units for magazines and all the goodies we will get. make it comfortable. we will be here for a long time. >> what we should put above that, is america [ bleep ]. >> after moving in, the chief and his rookie pack the vehicle for action. >> so far the truck looks pretty good. >> the 20-ton vehicle is built to hold all of the team's tools. over the next five months, the team will spend more time in the truck than in their bunks. >> i will sort through all that. let me do it my way. >> what? >> i will be back here building stufr. >> chase is the youngest bomb tech on the team. >> while i was in boot camp, i

switched from the s.e.a.l. group to the eod program. >> chase is a kid. he is my 22-year-old. i have a son the same age as him. >> i am the youngest guy and the hardest one to deal with, and he knew he could deal with me. >> i definitely know how to handle him, i think. >> i have been working all day. >> 200 miles east of griffin is a forward operating base kunduz. here, the rest of platoon 342 are clearing bombs for the army base mountain. and leaving is ricky tebow.

>> my job is to make sure my vehicle is up and running and my robots are good and weapons are good and i have enough bang to go out and do my job. >> explosives are the bomb tech's primary tool. most times the best way to dispose of an ied is to blow it up. >> we will prime into that and make a big hole. >> we are going through and knocking out all the cobwebs and vacuuming up all the dust. >> matt went from salesman to tech. >> it's the combination of the physicality and the mental challenges. i have done a 9:00 to 5:00, and i have worn a tie and i am happy doing what i am doing now. >> the third member of the team, sam durham, has an engineering degree from virginia tek, but he is a rookie here. >> how much more are you going

to do? >> the only lunch you are getting today is an mre. >> an mre is a meal ready to eat. that's what they put in there. that's all you got to eat, that's all you got to eat. >> here is an enchilada. i wondered what a dog turd tasted like, and that's what it tastes like. >> early the next morning, ricky's team draws the first major mission of their employment. local farmers in a village controlled by the taliban risked their lives by calling in an ied

planted next to their homes. >> if you see something that doesn't look right, call it up. don't be afraid to call it up. >> with an army escort they will travel through hostile territory to destroy the bomb. >> we are hear to help you guys out as well. >> what are your questions? got any? all right. i warn you just shoot to kill. make sure you are ready to take that shot.

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we're going out there against something that doesn't have a personality or soul, and it wants to kill you. >> i -- you guys see something that doesn't look right, just call it up. don't be afraid to call it up. >> a ied has been called in by farmers in a taliban-controlled town. >> shoot to kill. make sure you are ready to take that shot. >> be on your guard and stand firm. you men are courage.

>> hopefully you are going home on a plane and not in a box. >> ricky's team rolls out with the security escort from the 10th division. the new team leader rides shotgun, and sam drives, and matt manages the gun and the robot. >> this is what afghanistan looks like. i remember. >> that's pretty good.

>> this is taliban country. where an unseen deadly enemy waits for any opportunity. and rough roads make the convoy a slow-moving target. >> whoa, jeez! >> keep an eye out! >> the road has been washed out by a recent flood. the convoy halts to consider the crossing. >> how are you feeling about that? >> we'll try. >> if any vehicle gets stuck, the whole convoy is vulnerable to attack.

drive it like you stole it. >> all right! 3-6, 3-7, all vehicles across. >> they arrive at the village the ied call came from. >> we have all the villagers out right now. on an afghan street, the enemy easily blends in with the population. >> that guy there on the side of the road.

>> in the village, the convoy finds a narrow bridge blocking their path to the bomb site. >> i am going to dismount. >> rather than risk driving over the bridge, ricky decides to make the dangerous trip on foot. >> i will be back and we'll get a game plan. >> in hostile territory, an eod tech is always accompanied by an army escort and interpreter. it's a long walk for ricky knowing not everybody in the village is on his side. and the road is rumored to be littered with ieds. only the taliban knows where they are. so ricky cautionly leads the way

with his metal detector. >> finally, ricky reaches the spot where the hidden bomb is supposed to be. >> basically there is one ied, and it's marked off with a log. and this sign right here, it says there's a bomb. >> the farmers who called in the bomb show up to help out. >> when the taliban came here he told him to don't put the ied near the house, and he says i don't like you put ied in here because there is my house, but on this route there is a big ied

where taliban put it. he says i know we are the taliban and they put the fire crews on the ied. >> okay. where? can he show us? >> i have something for him to market with. >> if i give them lights, we can go back down at the roadblock. not on it, but near it. >> i am getting these duds to mark the area. hold on. ricky asked one of the farmer to mark the bomb and the fuse that would detonate it. >> when the farmer goes to mark the detonator, he freezes. >> hey, he is afraid if he throws it, it's going to blow up. >> tell him to come here. >> no, no, no.

squirt that around the area. >> with the location of the bomb clearly identified, ricky decides to risk crossing the narrow bridge so he could use the robot to detonate the ied. >> we will reposition the truck so we can get closer and go from there. i will start heading back to the truck. >> all right. >> just watch where you are stepping. >> i think he's going to take the route. the bridge. >> the team's army escort leads

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hey, there, everybody. here is what is happening. accompanieding the des moines register, mitt is it. the paper today endorsed former massachusetts governor, mitt romney. former czech president died at the age of 75. he peacefully brought down communism, and became the first democratically elected president in his country. more news in an hour.

>> at forward operating base griffin, the team there gets tapped for a mission. the afghan national police reported a remote ied on the only highway in the province. in this hostile country, once the eod team is outside the safety of the wire, the risks are 100 times greater. >> inside here, sometimes you feel safer. may not always be the case. but as soon as you go outside, it's not controlled. anybody can take shots at you at anytime. >> i mean, the unknown is, you know, none of us know if we are coming back alive. it's just, like, you know, if i get hurt or die, just, mom, please don't be mad.

>> on this mission, brad will drive, chase mans the gun and the robot, and the chief leads. >> this village is not very friendly. >> there has been some talk about them wanting to his this town. has not happened yet. just keep your eyes open. >> yep. >> you can tell who likes you and who don't like you. got that look. >> several miles away from the town, the convoy approaches the site of the suspected ied. >> this area is known for ieds.

there's a big box that this is up against. >> i see the con ex. >> okay. we have a visual. >> the u.s. military dropped off an empty shipping container for the police to use at the barics as a check point. the container has not been moved up the hill, but the taliban may have already boobytraped it. >> we will drive the truck off the road, which is a little sketchy. >> leaving the hard top is a big risk. it's easy to dig into soft-packed dirt roads and plant bombs. >> it's going to take basic

maneuvering. >> roger, let's go. >> it sounds like jaws right there. did you hear it? da da -- >> that's the kind of theme music i like. >> brad and chief scan the road for freshly dug dirt. there's loose dirt about 15 meters up. hold it there. hold it. >> fresh soil is a tip-off an ied may be buried. >> not seeing anything yet. >> okay, roll on. >> i have two big clump piles -- >> stop. >> i am not seeing anything there. >> okay. moving. >> the vehicle is as close as it can get.

>> come up to this corner here, and then we can get the robot out, what do you think? >> i like it. i like it a lot. >> now it's up to the chief's team to find the bomb? >> and now it's up on the hill. >> army vehicle set a security parameter vehicle so the team can get to work. chief has chase roll out the robot. the last thing he wants to do is walk-up on a live bomb on foot. this is chase's first combat test as a robot driver. >> that's funny. they need to get rid of the dog. don't want to blow the dog up. >> on the left side, take a look there close. >> whoa, whoa, whoa! come away from the box. come away from the box to the

left. take a look -- right now just take a look down that left side. they said there was something on that side. see anything? >> i am not getting anything. >> can you get closer to the box? >> what? >> can you get closer to the box? >> yes. >> all right. look up the rest of the side. if you see something you want to check, check it, and if not, go to the other side. what are you doing? closing in on what looks to be blue cord. >> there's heavy cable right there that you are grabbing, i think.

>> there went the robot. >> oops. >> this is edo. that was an uncontrolled det. stand by. >> you killed by [ bleep ] robot. i hate blowing up robots. >> at least it was not one of us. >> the robot is not bad. i mean, it just blew the arm off. the robot is going, help! >> the robot detonated one ied,

but the taliban often plant more than one bomb. >> i am getting the other robot out, because i blew the first one up. you never know when you need a second one for instance, this time. >> if anything happens to the robots, the only move left is to search for the bomb on foot. >> this might not work. >> why? >> it's catching the other robot. >> interference from a downed robot signal stopped the backup robot debt in its tracks. >> let me shoot the other robot. >> no. >> the 240. >> no. >> it will turn it off.

>> no. that's my robot. it has limbs missing. >> put the 310 out. >> 310? >> yeah. >> the 310 is a smaller, more mobile robot. >> before you make your moves, i want to visualize what is going on. >> the 310 uses a video game controller and a small eyepiece that receives the video feed. >> don't blow this one up, because i have to go up there. >> tomorrow start the downed robot from transmitting, they have to use the 310 to cut off the power supply. >> chase, you need to talk to me. talk to me, goose. >> i got nothing. >> i am wondering what you are doing? >> i am moving the arm so we can

see. >> you said you wanted to blow up the robot? >> don't you blow up that robot. >> chase needs to thread a needle and turn off the damaged robot. >> whoa! get that arm back. arm back. >> calm down. i got it. >> don't tell me to calm down. you are about to flip the [ bleep ] robot! go on back. whoa! whoa! >> oh, oh, come on. [ bleep ]. >> can you see this picture? >> what? >> you are like this in the hole. oh, done. >> with their last robot down, chief may have to get

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ricky's team is two hours into a mission in a taliban-controlled village. they are at a standstill because an army escort vehicle has gone off a narrow bridge and is blocking the path to the ied. >> what we're going to try to do is hook into you guys, and we'll back it as best as we can. >> i am surprised the bridge has not given way already. >> backing up. >> backing it up. >> go, go, go! >> stop!

stop! stop! >> what did you think about that [ bleep ]? >> with the army truck out of the way, ricky's team crosses the bridge and moves into position. >> get that robot ready and put it out the back. >> ricky plan is to blow up the ied. he orders matt to send down the robot, carrying an explosive charge. >> matt, you have a two block now of tnt? >> the tnt is going to need something to push it against. that's why they use it in mining. but in this case, sitting out in the open, the c is going to do better in the clearing -- [ snoring ]

>> are you done? >> i guess sam is trying to tell you something. >> just playing with you, bro. >> despite teasing, matt's suggestion makes sense to ricky. the robot rolls down to the bomb carrying c-4 explosives. >> i can see the circle up on my right. >> it is directly on top of the chem light. >> bring the robot back and let's get the shot over with. >> the c-4 should detonate the ied, but nobody knows how big the explosion will be. ricky tells everybody to button up. >> make sure everybody that needs cover is covered. over. >> all right.

>> fire in the hole. fire in the hole. fire in the hole. >> that seemed a little bit bigger. >> you think? >> yeah. >> okay. we will count it a good debt nation, over. [ explosion ] . >> did you hear the dirt landing on the vehicle? >> yeah. >> dude, that was a big shot. that was awesome. had about seven pounds much c-4 down there, and the explosion we just got was significantly larger than seven pounds. we did our job and got what we

were looking for even though we did not see it. >> that's a nice hole, dude. appears good 12 feet wide. >> and where war in life and death is decided by a misstep on a village road, the team rolls back knowing today they saved lives. >> we are en route going home. >> you did not give our team leader a shotout? >> ricky, did a stellar job today. all in all, a good day. best day we have had since being in country. >> don't jinx us. let's get back on base.

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at a remote ap station he's lost one robot to a bomb. a second robot is sent because of radio interference from the downed robot, and now chase has just flipped their third and final robot into the blast hole. >> well, [ bleep ]. >> [ bleep ]. >> [ bleep ] down on this

[ bleep ]. >> [ bleep ]. that's what i'm talking about. talk to me [ bleep ] when you're doing it, all right? >> i know. i'm lifting myself up. >> the pressure is on the rookie chase to get the team's last robot out of the hole. he doesn't want to be the reason chief has to go down range on foot. >> i don't think you can get out. we'll see. if you can launch yourself [ bleep ] out of there, launch yourself out of there. are you stuck? >> no. oh. i went up the wrong way. >> i can't turn any other way. >> there you go. now you're going. >> hello. >> there you go, right through there. >> got it. >> yes. >> whoo-hoo. >> you know what? don't ever doubt my robotic skills. whoo!

>> oh, my god. >> with the chase, they finally turn the robot off. now the signal from the interference, they can sweep the area and the chief can stay. >> tell me what you're doing. >> i've got nothing right now. >> chase finds no sign of a second ied. >> what do you think? >> i didn't see anything on that go-around. >> yeah, we did not confirm a second ied there. >> after an exhaustive robot search and no secondary ied -- >> hey, what are we doing? >> taking a picture. >> chief calls the area clear. >> [ bleep ] nightmare. >> he takes a picture that will be added to the data base of

every bomb defused in afghanistan. >> i'm tired of sirting in this damn seat. >> i'm [ bleep ] tired, just [ bleep ] tired. >> hey, chase. >> yeah. >> you got -- >> no. >> yeah, you are. >> what's up? >> i want to make sure you know you owe us a case of beer. >> for what? >> you blew up the damn robot. i didn't blow it up. l.t. didn't blow it up. there's only one person who blew up the damn robot. >> the taliban. i didn't put the explosives in the ground. i like guinness. i'm just says. >> i don't like guinness. >> okay.

the chief doesn't like guinness. >> they've already received word of chase's mishap. >> wow. wow. >> somebody order the robot -- >> yeah, we heard about it. >> you guys blew up r2-d2. >> of course. first time i drive a robot, what happens? i blow it up. >> that's awesome. >> so after it blew up, we put the other robot out. >> shut up. shut up. listen. so we put -- we put that robot -- we didn't put it out there. we put the -- >> whatever. suck it. >> i'm the best robot driver. i'm the youngest guy on the team. so i have to be the best robot driver because i kind of got

nothing else. it definitely sucks to lose a robot. but at the same time, we didn't lose a team member. >> nice. coming this season on "bomb patrol --" >> oh [ bleep ]. >> dude, [ bleep ]. >> oh, [ bleep ]. >> juice looks like he's got eyes on something. would you say this is a lot of explosives? >> please stop that guy going up the hill. >> hey. >> five-four-three- -- stop, stop. come bachlkt get down.

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