Subdeacon Joe Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/remote-controlled-truck-soldier-afghanistan-saves-soldiers-lives/story?id=14225434 Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden is on duty in Afghanistan now after tours with the Army in Iraq. He has traveled with standard-issue equipment -- weapons, helmet, uniform, boots and so forth -- plus a radio-controlled model truck his brother Ernie sent. The truck is not a toy to him. He says it just saved six soldiers' lives. "We cannot thank you enough," said Sgt. Fessenden in an email from the front that Ernie, a software engineer in Rochester, Minn., shared with ABC News. The little truck was used by the troops to run ahead of them on patrols and look for roadside bombs. Fessenden has had it since 2007, when Ernie and Kevin Guy, the owner of the Everything Hobby shop in Rochester, rigged it with a wireless video camera and shipped it to him. Last week, it paid off. Chris Fessenden said he had loaned the truck to a group of fellow soldiers, who used it to check the road ahead of them on a patrol. It got tangled in a trip wire connected to what Fessenden guesses could have been 500 lbs. of explosives. The bomb went off. The six soldiers controlling the truck from their Humvee were unhurt. "Monday morning, Ernie comes running into my store and says, 'You're not going to believe this,'" said Guy, recounting the story in a telephone interview. "I got an email from [Chris] that said, 'Hey, man, I'm sorry, but the truck is gone,'" said Ernie, admitting he still found it all pretty hard to believe. "The neat thing is that the guys in the Humvee were all right." How irresponsible! Don't these guys know what a risk they are taking in using a device that wasn't built by the highest bidder? How can they trust something that wasn't subjected to years of expensive testing? I suggest that, when the inevitable congressional hearing questioning this come into being, all those who are against its use should be sent to Af and given the job of walking point every day for six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perro Del Diablo Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 I guess that means using silly string to find trip wires is out of the question. Thank GOD it was toy destroyed and not the men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorado Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Makes a lot of sense don't it. Why go buy the cheap mass manufactured thing for a couple hundred dollars when you can have your engineers design one for a million dollars and then have a handful made for 2 million each. Geez, come on guys you're not thinking this through, We need to cut spending! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Houston # 35508 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I think you meant "The Lowest Bidder" !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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