A pair of alert soldiers prevented what could have been a devastating attack on a U.S. patrol base south of Baghdad, military officials said Monday.

According to the military, a dump truck barreled toward the patrol base’s perimeter barriers Sunday afternoon apparently attempting to breach the base, known as Patrol Base Warrior Keep.

Spcs. Brandon Rork and Charles Osgood — both assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division — opened fire on the truck. Rork was manning a machine gun and Osgood was firing with an M-4. The pair “fired at the truck repeatedly, until it stopped.”

When soldiers inspected the vehicle, they found the driver still alive and strapped into a suicide bomb vest. The truck was loaded with homemade explosives. The driver was treated for his injuries, military officials said, but there was no further word on his condition.

“The soldier in the machine gun position was very alert … and able to engage and stop a dump truck suicide bomber bent on destroying the entire patrol base,” Lt. Col. John Valledor, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry, was quoted as saying in a news release.

As U.S. troops move from larger, more isolated bases into smaller outposts closer to cities, insurgents have stepped up attacks on the more vulnerable positions.

U.S. officials have acknowledged a trade-off between being positioned closer to the population and being more open to possible attack.

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