Toy Truck Saves Six Soldiers' Lives

[Reality]

*** NOTE *** Do NOT make this a political thread .. this has nothing to do with politics so any political comments will be dealt with harshly!

This is a story I read that I think is cool if for no other reason than toys being used to help keep people safe.


He saved six soldiers’ lives — with a child’s toy
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44071800/ns/today-today_people/

When he needed a way to help ensure his brother would come home safe from tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ernie Fessenden didn’t resort to rocket science. Instead, he turned to toys.

Teaming up with local hobby store owner Kevin Guy, the Rochester, Minn., resident employed some good old-fashioned American ingenuity to solve the problem. And their simple invention, using a toy truck, has saved the lives of six soldiers.

In 2007, Fessenden and Guy sent Fessenden’s brother, Staff Sgt. Chris Fessenden, a radio-controlled (RC) model truck outfitted with a wireless video camera to help him check for bombs under trucks and search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on roadsides in Iraq. That same remote-control truck, essentially a souped-up children’s toy, ended up preventing the potential deaths of six soldiers two weeks ago in Afghanistan, as Chris detailed in an email to Ernie.

Read more: Full Article


#reality

 

[DIAF]

in before the first RC-XD comment


Edit: doesn't the army already use these? Maybe its just ordinance disposal guys that do, but I was under the assumption that the Army used RC robots for stuff like this.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

in before the first RC-XD comment


Edit: doesn't the army already use these? Maybe its just ordinance disposal guys that do, but I was under the assumption that the Army used RC robots for stuff like this.

They use a variety of ROV's for such things but those are as you said, limited in distribution. This inexpensive toy/life saver could be deployed at the fire team level to explore a variety of dangerous situations and objectives. At 30 mph, it's a heckuva a way to sneak up on someone in a hurry. Pretty cool they rigged up a monitor to the Picatinny rails and have IR LED's on the truck as well.