High tech in Iraq High tech in Iraq (April 29, 2005)

MV soldier doing her part by repairing robots

By Jon Wiener

Please forgive Petty Officer Jennifer Smith if she gets a little emotional when her computers explode. Oh sure, each time a robot she has worked on rolls over a land mine or a so-called improvised explosive device (IED), at least two lives have been saved. But the Mountain View resident still feels some attachment to her work.

In a phone interview from Baghdad's Camp Liberty last Friday, Smith told the Voice the story of a brand new robot she had issued to a Navy technician.

"She arrived 24 hours later with the control unit in pieces," Smith remembered. "For several moments we were sad. But then we realized it would have been her that took the blast and not the robot."

For some people, spending hours working on a $60,000 piece of machinery and then seeing it in ruins can be frustrating, but not at Camp Liberty, where such scenes are common. While soldiers fight a creeping insurgency on the outside, Smith labors behind the wire to repair the robots they use to uncover the increasingly prevalent IEDs. The robots search for makeshift bombs everywhere from cars to piles of trash.

Only four technicians in Iraq repair these robots, called explosive ordnance disposal units. Smith and her comrades will take in five robots on an average day, damaged by everything from explosions to the dirt that comes with the job. But regardless of the damage done to the robot, Smith will either fix it or find a new one to replace it.

"Teams don't go without a robot," said Smith. "We never let that happen."

The robots cost anywhere between $60,000 and $100,000, but Smith said the biggest cost is training soldiers to use them. Smith compared the robots she works on to an expensive car, saying that she always salvages something.

"We love our robots - don't mind us."

Smith enlisted in the Navy in 2001, leaving behind her job as a software engineer at Lycos. The five-year resident of Mountain View says she is still "an IT just like any other IT in Silicon Valley."

She still relies on the best practices in the high-tech industry. The difference now is that instead of working on Web applications, she is saving lives.

"It's absolutely the most satisfying job that I've ever had in my life," she said. "We know that we're making a difference because we see the soldiers we work with. We know who we're protecting."

Smith is returning home next week as her six-month tour in Iraq draws to a close. While there, she has been writing her memoirs. Titled "A Sailor's Creed," the book is a series of stories about the people she has met while serving.

As for herself, Smith said she will miss the active military but not the camouflage uniform. She said she thinks she'll go back to the software world, but in the meantime is looking forward to going scuba diving and playing with her dog.

"If you ever see a loudmouth sailor in a bar in Mountain View, that's me," she said.

The U.S. Army arranged this interview.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.