Staff Sgt. David Perdew prepares to throw an incendiary

Staff Sgt. David Perdew prepares to throw an incendiary grenade into a field at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan as part of a controlled burn effort. Perdew is a member of the Illinois National Guard. The Astoria, Ill. native is assigned to the Explosive Hazardous Coordination Cell at Bagram. The field was burned to allow de-mining operations to begin in the area and to clean out a creek vital to two local villages. The creek floods each year causing one village and BAF to flood, while the other village faces drought like conditions. The cleaning will alliviate the problems in all three areas.