Category Archives: Unfiled

I participated in the Worlds Jet boat Marathon as a HAM operator for emergency communications during the races.  Because of work I was only able to participate one day during the Snake River run of the marathon.  Last year I participated in the Thunder on the Snake and my position on the river was rather uneventful,  so I wanted to be in an area that would have more action so to speak.  Well, I got that alright and much more.

Some of the boats were coming within 5-10 ft. of my safety boat, which I thought was pretty cool and we were located in a section of rapids known as the Captain John Rapids.  It was interesting to see the boats run the rapids and see the effects of the rollers on the boats.  That is, until someone was injured.  I wanted action and excitement, but I didn’t want to see anyone hurt from it.

One boat in the second leg of the race hit a roller in the rapids.  His nose went straight up, then the rear of the boat hit, followed by a slap of the front end, landing the boat back in correctly.  What I didn’t realize was that the seats in the race boats are bolted to the frame and have no suspension whatsoever.  This means the occupants of the boat feel every little bump on the river.  I continued to watch the boat, praying he would continue passed. That didn’t happen.  He slowed down and turned toward the area of beach where we were located.  The boat captain, EMT, and boat hands went flying out to the racer as I called net control about the disabled boat.  Next thing I knew, the EMT returned as the driver of said race boat requested medical attention.  I again relayed the update to net control.  Shortly thereafter, another member of the safety boat returned with more information to relay.  A backboard was needed and with that comes emergency crews, on the water and land.  I stayed at my post and continued with communications.  Another safety boat arrived along with the Asotin fire boat and the Sheriff boat.  An ambulance was called and my boat headed across the river to flag down the ambulance when it arrived.  Another ham eventually arrived on the road side and took over for flagging the ambulance and the fire and Sheriff boats arrived to wait for the ambulance.  When we saw that we were no longer needed we headed back to the other side by the race boat.  It was decided that the race boat would head down river to church camp and wait to be trailered.  I informed net control that we would be following to church camp.

Later I learned that the injured racer left the hospital around 1700 hours that evening.  I was happy to hear that he walked out, but I still didn’t know the extent of his injuries.  turns out he did fracture his back and that is something I can empathize with.  I’m glad he is okay and that he wasn’t injured any worse.

Apparently I did very well with my communications and stayed calm and collected.  I heard a lot of sincere expressions of appreciation after the races ended for the day.

When I got to work this morning I hear the following story across the news wire (paraphrased because I currently couldn’t it in article form*):

A Moscow mother was told to get in a car by an unknown individual.  The mother had just dropped her child off at daycare when an individual approached and told her to get in his car.  She promptly drove off in her vehicle and notified police. The mother describe the vehicle as a maroon astrovan and there was a Hispanic woman in the front seat.

Now immediately I remembered what Moscow PD advised everyone yesterday after an armed robbery.

One of the radio reports has the cops telling us, after this
incident, not to fight back– to do whatever the criminals tell us to
do.

In two day’s we’ve had two instances of people doing the exact opposite of this advice and the whole situation working out quite better for the victim.  If you’re not willing to fight to survive, so be it, but don’t tell me and mine that it would be better to be violated by a criminal than fight back. 

What if all the criminal wants is your life?  Once you’re handcuffed in the back of the van, your ability to fight back has been removed.  Fight, fight hard, and plan to win.  Fighting back is what the criminal doesn’t expect, that surprise can shift the initiative.  Lastly, if you’re going to die, the least you can do is take the son of a bitch with you, less he prey on some other victim in the future.

Lastly, as can bee seen from the incident, it is not always the expected type of attack.  They reiterated over the radio that is was a mother and not a child who was told to get in the van.  How many parents worry about someone trying to take them while dropping their kid off?  They don’t, they’re worried about the kid. 

(Red team hat, here’s where you all think of me as an evil sadistic bastard).  From an attackers perspective, this actually is a good plan.  The parent will basically be “target fixated” on their child and focused on protecting the child from any threats.  When you’re target fixated though, that’s when the bandits wing man sneaks up on your six and plugs one through your exhaust hole.  While you’re still situationally aware, the parent is likely ignoring things that are not a threat to the child, including the blind spot of the parent.

Red team hat off.  Pay attention, don’t think that your child is the only possible target.  Even if they were the target, take out the parent who may not have noticed you yet.  If you go down, you’re no longer able to help and defend your child.  Lastly, never give the SOB what he wants, give him his tribute in “hot lead” instead.

*I am going to keep my eyes peeled for an actual article.  I just couldn’t let the “give them what they want” slip by.

TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.

Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

www.the-minuteman.org

“You carry a gun every day?” they ask incredulously? “You wear your
seatbelt every day?” I reply. It’s safety equipment – you don’t turn off
your smoke detectors because you don’t think you’ll have a fire today,
right? I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me; admitting that there is evil
in this world that can and often does strike at the vulnerable makes
folks uncomfortable, so they try to forget it exists and mock those few
that prepare for it.

JayG – Why Do You Carry A Gun?

April 23, 2012

[This fits my philosophy on the subject quite well.  I carry my gun for the unexpected.  A pistol is for the fight you don’t know is coming.  If I knew a fight was coming, I’d be grabbing my rifle.  It’s amazing how many people don’t seem to be able to connect the dot on the correlation with the above examples.  They’ll use their seat belt, they’ll make sure their smoke detectors are functional, but when it comes to carrying a defensive arm, that would never be needed.

I often will reply with, “do you have a fire extinguisher?”  Or “of course I do, have you tried carrying a cop around all day?”

The thing is, many of the bad things in life are statistically unlikely, it doesn’t mean that we should be ready in case we’re the poor bastard that pulled the wrong lotto ticket that morning. -B]

TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.

Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

www.the-minuteman.org