Plastic explosive

that surviving at times was a roll of the dice. We are trained to react to contact and out “gun” the enemy. With roadside bombs it’s either your day or it’s not. We had sat through hours of training that could help you spot and I.E.D, improvised explosive device. The difference between training and real life was the actual placement of the devices. In power point presentations that are thrown on the side of the road with a blatantly obvious detonation mechanism and stuck out like a sore thumb.…

The rapid acquisition program established to procure the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle was a success story that significantly differed from normal procurement programs. For limited time-sensitive requirements, this acquisition method is effective but, should not be adopted for traditional Department of Defense (DOD) Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs). The amount of senior leader involvement and risk acceptance required for the MRAP program would not be suitable or…

the lives it can take with the hazards involved with it. Some background on the MRAP and what it was made for. The MRAP was designed in a way to help defeat some of the deadliest things on the road during a deployment and these are improvised explosive devices IED’s. MRAPs come in multiple different weights and shapes of vehicles produced by a variety of domestic and international companies…

Panjwai, Kandahar, Afghanistan, known as the heart of the Taliban, the birthplace; and I am headed there. I had just said goodbye to my wife whom at this point I have been married to for 4 months, and was now on my way to a combat deployment. My emotions were all over the place. I knew that I have to be the strong soldier for my peers, the soldier my leaders can trust and depend on, but I am also the loving husband that had to say goodbye to his wife. Furthermore, I knew that this could quite…

I woke up every morning in Iraq the same way. I would get up and I would get all my gear on. Today was different though, I woke up, and leaned over the side of my bed with a bad feeling in my stomach, I got up soon after. I laced up my boots, loaded my gun’s magazines, and then put my vest on. Then walked outside and the sun blinded me for a little bit. I later walked to where the Humvee was, it was going to take us on our route. When I got in the Humvee I saw one of my good buddies, Jaxon…

Being a War Veteran Participation in war changes a person, but participation in two wars extremely changes a person that only a few will fully understand. People who have never been there ask me what it was like. Did you get shot at or shoot anyone? Others will share stories about a sibling, cousin, friend, or someone they knew who went to fight in a war. Even though they know someone who fought in a war, they themselves don’t fully understand what I went through on a daily basis. Only your…

Improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Iraq produced up to 80% of U.S. casualties. Mine resistant and ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs), fielded to route clearance units prior to the war, were designed to protect occupants from IEDs. However, a protracted conflict between the requirements based Defense Acquisition System and the politically charged “moral imperative” to reduce causalities, delayed further MRAP fielding for nearly 3-years. This delay resulted in 1,600 preventable U.S.…

My first major mission, a young 18 year old, the lead gunner behind a M240B as the first line of defense for our platoon; would soon be a situation that left an imprint in my life and has forever changed how I now lead as an NCO. This mission took place in 2007 near the city of Ad Dawr, Iraq. The mission was complex but my orders were simple, protect the convoy and provide security. The main objective was to expose and detain (if possible) a cell leader to include destroying his know cache point…

Being raised in a family in which most members have chosen a life of service, either as a member of law enforcement or one of our country’s military branches, proves worrisome for loved ones. My family is no exception because my dad and brother both serve our country. I usually can bury the fear and worry for their safety deep within me, but many of our country’s major headline events just hit too close to home. Peace-keepers often face life-threatening dangers, which have shaped me into a more…

The Oklahoma City Bombing happened on April 19, 1995. This terrorist attack was the worst terrorist attack to happen before 9/11. The truck was packed with 4,800-pounds of explosives which consisted of diesel-fuel and fertilizer (ammonium nitrate). The bomb was detonated on April 19, 1995 just outside Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City shortly after 9am (Nacos, 2016). This catastrophic blast killed one hundred sixty-eight people and injured hundreds more (Nacos,…