Help Save Our Troops

(Reprinted from www.MollieSanders.com)

In the September 12th New Yorker article “Coming Apart” by George Packer, I learned a disturbing piece of information:

A former Navy SEAL has come up with a manufacturing strategy to make “armored” vehicles much more resistant to IEDs and other attacks – BUT the former Navy SEAL cannot bid on undertaking this important mission the Pentagon has said it wants done for Humvees because BIDS ARE NOT BEING ACCEPTED.

(As Mitch and I wrote in the novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS, “IEDs are not an electronics problem. They’re an engineering problem.”)

The information on this situation is only part of Packer’s overall article, which is an essay on the American public’s attitude since 9/11.

Let me explain this “armored” vehicle situation in more detail:

Packer begins his New Yorker article with the story of former Navy SEAL Chris Berman, who was hired in 2004 by the private security company Blackwater.

Berman volunteered to go on a “food-escort detail” to Falluja, “but at the last minute his place was taken by one of his friends, Scott Helvenston.”

Helvenston and three other Blackwater security guards, riding in a Mitsubishi Pajero, were ambushed and killed on their way to Falluja. While waiting to escort Helvenston’s coffin back to the U.S., Berman began drawing designs for armoring the Pajero so that Helvenston and the other three men might have survived.

Berman opened a factory in Kuwait that successfully produced an armored vehicle for security companies working in Iraq. He closed this factory in 2008 to focus on the project he’d moved onto five years after 9/11:

His new goal was to do something about the lightly armored Humvees used by U.S. military personnel. Surviving a blast while riding in these is also a major “armored” vehicle issue.

According to Packer, “For several years, the Pentagon has had plans to rebuild Humvees used in the war, and improve their armor, instead of buying new ones.”

In 2007 Berman started the company Granite Tactical Vehicles and developed a model design to improve the armor on existing Humvees. BUT there have been no government bids on this supposed Pentagon project. This is because, according to Packer:

[T]he government kept putting off requests for bids, in part because the main Humvee manufacturer, a large corporation in Indiana called AM General, appeared to have enough clout in Congress to get the process delayed, staving off competition.

Packer goes on to say that ”the rumored date for accepting bids is now this fall.”

I’m not an engineer – I cannot say that Berman’s design is the best (although Packer says: “People who knew the business said that Berman’s design was among the best.”).

What I can say is:

Let’s get out the word about this situation to people (such as our House and Senate representatives and any friends you may have in the Pentagon) to “motivate” the Pentagon to open bids right now – and quickly choose a good design – to get much better protection for the Humvees.

If you do help spread the word, please email me at pzmiller@millermosaicllc.com with the subject HELP SAVE OUR TROOPS to tell me you helped.

I’ll email you back a free ePub copy of the novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS that you can read on a computer after downloading the free ePub-reading software from www.calibre-ebook.com

Will you help?
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which works with clients to attract more business. Read her posts at the company's social media marketing blog.

Remote Control Toy Truck Saves Soldiers From IED Explosion in Afghanistan

The MSNBC post by Today.com contributor Scott Stump "He saved six soldiers’ lives — with a child’s toy" is an amazing story of a man using a "souped up" toy to help bring his deployed brother home safely.

Ernie Fessenden and hobby store owner Kevin Guy created the remote control IED-scouting toy truck from a Traxxis Stampede for Ernie's brother, Staff Sgt. Chris Fessenden.

Stump explains:

Chris had lent the model truck to a group of fellow soldiers who were going out on a patrol. They used the toy, which can go up to 30 miles per hour, to scout the area ahead of them for potential IEDs.

When the toy truck zipped out in front of the soldiers’ armored Humvee, it became enmeshed in a trip wire on the road that triggered what was estimated to be 500 pounds of explosives. The bomb exploded, but none of the soldiers was hurt.

Had they not sent the remote-control truck scooting up ahead of them, the soldiers might have approached the IED on foot — or driven the Humvee into the trip wire.

Before you read the amazing story of how Ernie and Kevin came up with the idea, donate to the new project http://truckstotroops.com/ to send more remote control IED-scouting toy trucks to deployed troops. I just donated.

(I'm additionally interested in this innovative idea because, in my new eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS, Mollie goes to Afghanistan for an up-close-and-personal look at the problem of detecting IEDs.)

Now read the incredible story of what two men did with a toy truck, ingenuity and determination.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which works with clients to attract more business. Read her posts at the company's social media marketing blog.

An Unwanted Gift: IEDs

Ex-British Special Forces soldier Theodore Knell wrote a poem too late to be included in his memoir "From the Corners of a Wounded Mind" (see my review of this compelling memoir). It is such a moving poem that I wanted to include it here with this introduction from Knell:

Corporal Liam Tasker was an arms and explosives sniffer dog handler working in Afghanistan. He and his dog, a Springer Spaniel named Theo, held the record for detecting the greatest number of IEDs on a single tour.

Liam was shot dead during a fire fight and Theo died of a seizure some two hours later -- some would say of a broken heart.

An Unwanted Gift

His little body shakes in anticipation
so eager to please
running along the narrow streets
searching every crevice
hoping to find his prize
personally I hope he doesn’t

he’s got something
“Good boy”,
you think so?
Now it’s my turn
but I’m not so eager.
Let’s hope it’s on its own,
but knowing my luck,
it’ll be what some sick bastard named a daisy chain

Buried at the foot of a wall
perfectly placed to channel the blast along the narrow street,
catching as many as they can,
but they’re too late
the boys have gone to ground
well back,
and like Meerkats,
with eyes wide
and heads on a swivel,
they now scour the area
protecting me like some precious jewel

Laying here alone
with my sweat soaking into the sand
I empty my mind of everything,
my wife and son
everything, except for the job in hand,
gently I clear away the earth
picking at it, like a child with a meal it doesn’t want
slowly exposing the deadly gift that’s been left for us
lifting each wire in turn
looking for those tell tale signs
the ones that will tell me it’s not alone

please God, keep my hands steady

I’ve only got a week to go

(c) 2011 Theodore Knell

Militants in Afghanistan Build Bigger and Bigger Roadside Bombs

The March 20th Wall Street Journal article by Yochi J. Dreazen describes the same IED problem that I discussed in my previous blog post. See post "DODLive Bloggers Roundtable Hears from Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates on IEDs"

In fact, Army Lt. General Michael Oates, new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), is quoted in the Journal article.

What especially upset me after reading the article (besides the problem of the IEDs) is the lack of response I got from Gen. Oates' staff. Here's what happened:

He said in the DODLive Bloggers Roundtable that his four-year-old organization charged with finding solutions to IEDs wanted to hear from people outside the usual military channels who might have new ideas about dealing with this horrendous problem.

Yet, when I went to his org's website -- the URL of which I had to ask for on the call as it wasn't automatically provided -- the home page is so filled with links to press releases and news stories that it's very hard to have any idea at all that this org actually wants help. (Check out www.jieddo.dod.mil to see if you agree with me.)

Because this problem of IEDs is so horrendous, I offered to advise JIEDDO on how to have a home page that makes it very clear that the org is looking for civilian help on this problem. (A website review is one of the services that my Internet marketing company does.)

My DODLive contact said she would forward this offer to Gen. Oates' PAO (Public Affairs Officer) -- and in over a week I have heard nothing.

Thus reading this story in the March 20th Journal really upset me because I am convinced that there are civilian engineers and other civilians who could help with this problem IF THEY KNEW THEIR HELP IS NEEDED.

But how are they going to know that their help is needed? Certainly not by going to www.jieddo.dod.mil

What do you think? Am I right to be really, really upset at this lack of follow-through on the part of the staff of JIEDDO?
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Fast Company Article Describes Hollywood's Help to Prepare Soldiers for Roadside Attacks

The FastCompany.com November 8, 2009, article by Alissa Walker headlined "Inside the IED Battle Drill: How Hollywood Is Prepping Soldiers for Roadside Attacks" begins:

So," the smiling publicist asked cheerily, "do you want to get blown up, or not?"

Not a question I routinely get asked when reporting stories. But nothing about my visit to this non-descript office park about 40 miles north of Los Angeles could be described as routine. Here, in the shadow of the dozen or so roller coasters of Six Flags Magic Mountain, a team of more than a dozen Hollywood creatives and theme park engineers are debuting their latest creation.

Except this team is working not for the hottest Hollywood studio but for the Department of Defense. And this is no blockbuster film. It's a simulated IED attack.

Read the entire article now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.