djones520
02-18-2009, 04:18 PM
/17/2009 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) -- In an instant, Senior Airman Alex Eudy went from battling the enemies of Afghanistan to battling for his life.
It was just after 1 a.m. Jan. 24. He was only two months into his first deployment after graduating from advanced-skills training here in September 2008. The special operations weather team journeyman and the Marines he served with were on patrol about 30 miles from their firebase in the western province of Farah.
Behind the wheel of the fourth of four humvees, Airman Eudy and the five others in his vehicle kept their eyes peeled for variations in the road surface, exposed wires, freshly dug soil.-"Scab left" or "scab right" they called out. The driver adjusted his path of travel accordingly to mitigate the threat to the special operations patrol.
Then the roadway erupted.
Two 155-mm mortars and a Soviet anti-tank mine were command-detonated under the front of the vehicle. The engine flew 30 feet away as the six-ton rig somersaulted three times. The concussion of the blast rendered Airman Eudy unconscious.
His personal protective gear had done its job. There were no puncture wounds or lacerations from flying debris. In the violence of the explosion, however, his helmet chinstrap had sawed through the skin on his lower jaw. Everything else seemed fine, except his legs.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123135485
More at the link. Just wanted to bring some light to a little known branch of AF Spec Ops.
It was just after 1 a.m. Jan. 24. He was only two months into his first deployment after graduating from advanced-skills training here in September 2008. The special operations weather team journeyman and the Marines he served with were on patrol about 30 miles from their firebase in the western province of Farah.
Behind the wheel of the fourth of four humvees, Airman Eudy and the five others in his vehicle kept their eyes peeled for variations in the road surface, exposed wires, freshly dug soil.-"Scab left" or "scab right" they called out. The driver adjusted his path of travel accordingly to mitigate the threat to the special operations patrol.
Then the roadway erupted.
Two 155-mm mortars and a Soviet anti-tank mine were command-detonated under the front of the vehicle. The engine flew 30 feet away as the six-ton rig somersaulted three times. The concussion of the blast rendered Airman Eudy unconscious.
His personal protective gear had done its job. There were no puncture wounds or lacerations from flying debris. In the violence of the explosion, however, his helmet chinstrap had sawed through the skin on his lower jaw. Everything else seemed fine, except his legs.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123135485
More at the link. Just wanted to bring some light to a little known branch of AF Spec Ops.