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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Devil Dog combat engineers make things go boom! |
| 2004-11-24 |
| I think we all know somebody like this Marine. Heck, some of you could be this Marine. [Exerpted] Cpl. Michael R. Emans, a combat engineer assigned to 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, used just about every trick of the trade to open stubborn doors, gates and walls during an all out assault on the insurgents hiding in the city of Fallujah. During the initial phases of the assault, Emans got to try his hand at the combat aspect of his job. "I used to like blowing up ordinance, which is explosive already, and we just stack more explosives on top of it and blow it," said Emans, 22, a native of Bowling Green, Ohio. "I like it a lot better out here, running up to a door under fire, throwing a stick of C-4 on the door, yelling 'smoke' and the time on the fuse and then waiting for the explosion. You get to be so much closer (compared to a training situation) and you can feel the explosion. Destruction is very gratifying." Three and a half years ago, Emans approached a Marine Corps recruiter with one thing on his mind, combat engineering. "My dad was a combat engineer in the Marine Corps and I wanted to work with explosives," said Emans. "I walked into the recruiter's door and said I wanted to be a combat engineer. He told me that it wasn't guaranteed but I took the chance anyway." Now as a combat engineer, Emans considers himself a grunt with explosives, and his teammates appreciate the job that he does. "His job made it great, because he could set up a charge and blow a door so that we could all just flood into the building," Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Brennan, an assault man with 3rd platoon. "Plus it has a great shock effect on the enemy." |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #5 A Halligan, eh? I bet I could break into 90% of suburban US homes in about 30 seconds with one of those and a hand sledge. My house, however has long, hardened screws in the hinges, the deadbolt and the deadbolt pocket. A simple slide bolt or two will help, as long as they're beefy and screwed/bolted down well. Crooks are lazy and nervous. Make 'em work to get into your house and they'll give up quickly. Next week I'll discuss cellar windows as burglar bait. {8^) |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2004-11-24 7:51:15 PM |
#4 Barb, Halligan is a trade mark. It's the name of the guy credited with inventing the tool, perhaps the coolest fire tool. But only one company has rights to the name. In catalogues you'll see hooligan, or pry bar, or whatever, from the others.The Halligan Forcible Entry Tool is designed to pry, pound, pull and puncture. This tool features new non-slip grips machined in the tool, duckbill with a smooth incline to insert in doors, a pick and a prying claw. Available in black of chrome finishes.  |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-11-24 10:50:08 AM |
#3 crowbar-like tool called a hooligan toolHaven't seen the device in question, but I'm betting it's a Halligan tool. We used them in the fire department, and we called them "hooligans" too. Not a bad reporting job, and I'll give him points for not implying Americans are all a bunch of bloodthirsty murders. Just a little nit I couldn't resist picking. :-D This Marine - and all our military - are the greatest people in the world. We can never repay them for their service. But we can try. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-11-24 9:48:26 AM |
| #2 You cut the best part: âNow my dad is a mason with a large construction company, and I want to be a mason when I get out of the Marine Corps. The job market out there is good for construction, and there is good money in it.â Build 'em so they don't fall down. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-24 9:42:25 AM |
| #1 "There are very few problems in human relations that cannot be solved by suitable application of high explosives"-- Well,it isn't but it should be the Combat Engineer's motto. |
| Posted by: N guard 2004-11-24 9:33:24 AM |