The D9! Oh man. In OIF III, we had a D9 at our patrol base for a few weeks (long story). The driver was scheduled to have the D9 leave the next day and I asked him to do one last task for us. He was adamant that he had to leave. That is, until I told him what I needed done. Our patrol base was smack dab in the middle of a violent city. 25 meters away from our patrol base was a row of abandoned houses that people loved to use as a staging point to attack us. My plan was to bulldoze the entire neighborhood and to overcompensate the owners, making it a win-win for us and them (we upgrade our force protection and they upgrade their bank accounts). When I explained what I wanted done, he froze, his eyes got real big, his cigarette fell from his lips, there was a long pause, and then he said, "sir, I will stay here for as long as it takes if I can drive that dozer through a row of buildings." Unfortunately, my brilliant plan was quickly rejected by whomever handles the money at BDE (but my Bn XO, God bless him, actually argued on my behalf). That definitely would have made for a great video to show among friends on a Friday night, but a PR disaster if it were to get onto YouTube.Originally Posted by William F. Owen
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