posted by Jennifer Hlad on Jan 10
Staff Sgt. Frederick Ferguson took the stand today. He is an explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) technician who was riding in the sixth vehicle in the convoy, along with Maj. Galvin.
Though his view was obscured because of his position in the rear left of the vehicle and the trees on the side of the road, Ferguson said he remembers seeing a vehicle or two in the area close to the blast site. He also saw a blue SUV that “had received impact from obvious gun fire.”
He also saw one or two people on the east side of the SUV, and three to four people father away, on the west side.
Ferguson, like nearly every other witness, said he heard small arms fire and the gunners firing. The gunner in vehicle six, Sgt. John Moore, fired only once, Ferguson said.
Ferguson also addressed the practice of throwing rocks at vehicles that many of the witnesses have mentioned. He said he heard about the practice at an Army brief in Bagram, and was told it was part of the tactics, techniques and procedures.
Ferguson has deployed before and, as an EOD tech, has responded to roughly 100 IED blasts.
“We were obviously set up and picked out for an ambush,” he said.