1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:18,310 the world changed on september 11th 3 00:00:18,310 --> 00:00:21,390 2001 and the engineers and scientists 4 00:00:21,390 --> 00:00:23,501 at the U . S . Army Engineer Research 5 00:00:23,501 --> 00:00:25,612 and Development center or nordic knew 6 00:00:25,612 --> 00:00:27,834 that their lives were about to change . 7 00:00:27,834 --> 00:00:29,890 As agencies tasked with homeland and 8 00:00:29,890 --> 00:00:32,200 military security sought solutions to 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,690 their most pressing challenges and it 10 00:00:34,690 --> 00:00:37,410 was a day I'll never forget . It was 11 00:00:37,410 --> 00:00:40,500 just like yesterday and we were 12 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:42,510 thinking about as we watched this 13 00:00:42,510 --> 00:00:45,240 happen in the second attack into the 14 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,480 towers and then the attack on the 15 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,880 pentagon and over pennsylvania . 16 00:00:50,890 --> 00:00:53,800 But we were already doing research that 17 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,856 we knew we were going to be put into 18 00:00:55,856 --> 00:00:59,450 full , full force , full motion to 19 00:00:59,450 --> 00:01:02,620 respond to save the warfighters life . 20 00:01:02,630 --> 00:01:04,760 We knew our nation was about to be 21 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,120 responding to this attack and in a big 22 00:01:09,130 --> 00:01:12,160 way . But after I guess we got my wits 23 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,327 about me a little bit , I did begin to 24 00:01:14,327 --> 00:01:16,780 realize that things at work , we're 25 00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:18,836 gonna change once again , the arctic 26 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,870 always because of the broad expertise 27 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,200 we have at arctic any time there is a 28 00:01:25,210 --> 00:01:27,570 big event in this country , usually 29 00:01:27,570 --> 00:01:31,540 some sort of disaster or war the early 30 00:01:31,550 --> 00:01:33,940 ends up right in the middle of it . We 31 00:01:33,940 --> 00:01:37,040 get pulled in because of our highly hi 32 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,470 expertise in so many areas . The 33 00:01:39,470 --> 00:01:41,192 demands were great honored its 34 00:01:41,192 --> 00:01:43,303 researchers but they knew what was on 35 00:01:43,303 --> 00:01:46,170 the line . Half a world away mobilize 36 00:01:46,170 --> 00:01:48,460 everybody to be able to go and provide 37 00:01:48,460 --> 00:01:51,850 a solution and and this is a isn't work , 38 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:53,906 it's normal right where you've got a 39 00:01:53,906 --> 00:01:56,017 long drawn out planet eventually gets 40 00:01:56,017 --> 00:01:58,239 transition to the warfighter . This was 41 00:01:58,239 --> 00:02:00,930 a real problem right now and and we 42 00:02:00,930 --> 00:02:03,360 needed to be able to provide that 43 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,582 solution as quickly as possible to save 44 00:02:05,582 --> 00:02:07,693 lives . Yeah , the up tempo of what's 45 00:02:07,693 --> 00:02:09,804 going on overseas was so fast and the 46 00:02:09,804 --> 00:02:12,027 requirements were coming in , we had to 47 00:02:12,027 --> 00:02:13,916 develop those technologies and we 48 00:02:13,916 --> 00:02:16,082 develop them , they got him five years 49 00:02:16,082 --> 00:02:18,082 later , it's not doing any good for 50 00:02:18,082 --> 00:02:17,590 them , so we had to get those 51 00:02:17,590 --> 00:02:19,590 technologies developed and get them 52 00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:21,590 push forward as fast as we could so 53 00:02:21,590 --> 00:02:23,812 that they can start protecting soldiers 54 00:02:23,812 --> 00:02:25,701 in the field . We begin to get an 55 00:02:25,701 --> 00:02:27,812 understanding of how challenging this 56 00:02:27,812 --> 00:02:30,034 might be moving an entire military into 57 00:02:30,034 --> 00:02:32,146 a theater that we didn't have a large 58 00:02:32,146 --> 00:02:34,760 presence in basically the need to build 59 00:02:34,770 --> 00:02:38,730 if you would cities on demand . So yeah , 60 00:02:38,740 --> 00:02:41,220 requests around the clock , we talk 61 00:02:41,220 --> 00:02:43,276 about discover , develop deliver , I 62 00:02:43,276 --> 00:02:45,387 mean that was happening on 24-48 hour 63 00:02:45,387 --> 00:02:48,120 cycles . Um so you just , you felt this 64 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,300 need to be there for them to answer 65 00:02:51,300 --> 00:02:53,411 their questions when they ask because 66 00:02:53,411 --> 00:02:55,578 they were doing their duty forward and 67 00:02:55,578 --> 00:02:57,689 you just , you owe that to the to the 68 00:02:57,689 --> 00:03:00,070 soldiers . Er Dick's workload continued 69 00:03:00,070 --> 00:03:02,370 to grow and that required a new pool of 70 00:03:02,370 --> 00:03:04,481 problem solvers who were ready to hit 71 00:03:04,481 --> 00:03:06,870 the ground running many late nights in 72 00:03:06,870 --> 00:03:09,090 the office , a lot of team meetings in 73 00:03:09,090 --> 00:03:12,560 the dark um a lot of pizza eaten in 74 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,910 conference rooms , I mean it was never 75 00:03:14,910 --> 00:03:17,021 a single individual , it was always , 76 00:03:17,021 --> 00:03:18,966 you know , you were there for your 77 00:03:18,966 --> 00:03:20,966 teammates and we were there for our 78 00:03:20,966 --> 00:03:23,188 teammates down range as the operational 79 00:03:23,188 --> 00:03:25,354 tempo ramped up . ErdinC was now being 80 00:03:25,354 --> 00:03:27,570 asked to develop solutions to protect 81 00:03:27,570 --> 00:03:29,737 structures against constantly evolving 82 00:03:29,737 --> 00:03:31,980 threats to forward operating bases in 83 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:34,990 Iraq and Afghanistan . The other thing 84 00:03:34,990 --> 00:03:38,880 that we also started seeing and that 85 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,800 was really some really big challenges 86 00:03:41,810 --> 00:03:43,921 that we want to happen to deal with . 87 00:03:43,921 --> 00:03:45,532 And it was the nature of the 88 00:03:45,532 --> 00:03:47,310 environment that we were in and 89 00:03:47,310 --> 00:03:50,510 basically how the enemy was choosing 90 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,570 to engage us . And that really created 91 00:03:53,570 --> 00:03:56,610 some some really large global 92 00:03:56,620 --> 00:03:59,760 widespread challenges um in in our 93 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,010 world because we're working in 94 00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:04,300 basically uh force protection on the 95 00:04:04,300 --> 00:04:06,300 battlefield . Then what that really 96 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:09,020 meant was how do we protect uh these 97 00:04:09,020 --> 00:04:11,540 places , these forward areas where our 98 00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:13,840 soldiers and our you know , in the army 99 00:04:13,850 --> 00:04:17,180 was moving through and what that led to 100 00:04:17,190 --> 00:04:18,860 was a 101 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,860 Probably 3-5 years 102 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,560 of just absolutely breakneck research 103 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,470 development and trying to push 104 00:04:28,470 --> 00:04:31,820 solutions out field to be able to 105 00:04:31,830 --> 00:04:35,360 um efficiently and effectively protect 106 00:04:35,940 --> 00:04:38,240 um our base camps . I mean that's 107 00:04:38,250 --> 00:04:41,770 that's what it was um two 108 00:04:41,780 --> 00:04:45,740 against a a problem set that 109 00:04:45,740 --> 00:04:48,560 we really hadn't deeply contemplated 110 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,240 proud of that . So it was it was very 111 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,500 rewarding to see how , you know , 112 00:04:53,510 --> 00:04:55,677 simple ideas created here in Vicksburg 113 00:04:55,677 --> 00:04:58,190 Mississippi were shaping military 114 00:04:58,190 --> 00:05:01,850 doctrine of the future . Um It 115 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,740 after you know , things kind of settled 116 00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:07,660 down the army training and doctrine 117 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:10,780 command processes came into play and 118 00:05:10,780 --> 00:05:12,780 they recognized this deficiency and 119 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:14,724 stood up a formal kind of doctrine 120 00:05:14,724 --> 00:05:17,160 writing team to address base camp 121 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,620 deficiencies . Well , first versions of 122 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:21,990 that were really built on some of those 123 00:05:21,990 --> 00:05:24,070 best practice man , best practice 124 00:05:24,070 --> 00:05:25,890 manuals that have been produced 125 00:05:25,900 --> 00:05:28,370 directly from our research results , at 126 00:05:28,370 --> 00:05:30,037 least from a force protection 127 00:05:30,037 --> 00:05:32,203 perspective . But the threats were not 128 00:05:32,203 --> 00:05:34,810 just inside the wire vehicle convoys 129 00:05:34,810 --> 00:05:36,921 were increasingly coming under attack 130 00:05:36,921 --> 00:05:39,410 from improvised explosive devices which 131 00:05:39,410 --> 00:05:41,340 exploited the vulnerabilities of 132 00:05:41,340 --> 00:05:43,830 vehicle under Belize er Researchers 133 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,070 also delivered solutions to better 134 00:05:46,070 --> 00:05:48,770 protect our troops . The big concern 135 00:05:48,780 --> 00:05:51,002 over we don't , we don't really testing 136 00:05:51,002 --> 00:05:53,224 our vehicles correctly . We don't fully 137 00:05:53,224 --> 00:05:55,391 understand the underbelly glass at the 138 00:05:55,391 --> 00:05:57,613 same time , you had a lot of um changes 139 00:05:57,613 --> 00:05:59,660 or adjustments being made by our 140 00:05:59,660 --> 00:06:01,910 adversaries to the way we protect 141 00:06:01,910 --> 00:06:04,310 ourselves . And so one of the key 142 00:06:04,310 --> 00:06:06,366 things we wanted to do initially was 143 00:06:06,366 --> 00:06:10,090 really understand what , what factors 144 00:06:10,090 --> 00:06:12,312 influence of these threats and then how 145 00:06:12,312 --> 00:06:14,368 we utilize that to better analyze it 146 00:06:14,368 --> 00:06:16,368 for different situations as well as 147 00:06:16,368 --> 00:06:18,368 develop designs and capabilities to 148 00:06:18,368 --> 00:06:20,534 mitigate it . And so that really drove 149 00:06:20,534 --> 00:06:22,660 us to here in the concerns , uh , 150 00:06:22,670 --> 00:06:24,448 talking to some of the soldiers 151 00:06:24,448 --> 00:06:26,503 firsthand , uh , really , you know , 152 00:06:26,503 --> 00:06:28,680 really drove home the concern and the 153 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,700 need to understand this . And you know , 154 00:06:31,700 --> 00:06:33,867 you didn't have to watch the news very 155 00:06:33,867 --> 00:06:36,089 long to hear about incidents or someone 156 00:06:36,089 --> 00:06:37,978 getting injured or killed from an 157 00:06:37,978 --> 00:06:39,756 unfairly blast . Well after the 158 00:06:39,756 --> 00:06:41,922 insurgency had stood up , I was in the 159 00:06:41,922 --> 00:06:45,550 first wave of the , of the push um and 160 00:06:45,550 --> 00:06:47,550 you don't really quite know what to 161 00:06:47,550 --> 00:06:49,717 expect your first time in combat , but 162 00:06:49,717 --> 00:06:51,883 when you see your first idea go off or 163 00:06:51,883 --> 00:06:54,010 you hear indirect fire coming in , um 164 00:06:54,020 --> 00:06:56,076 the first thing you want to do is is 165 00:06:56,076 --> 00:06:58,800 get behind something . Um you know , I 166 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,856 didn't always know what I was diving 167 00:07:00,856 --> 00:07:02,967 behind or getting under um you know , 168 00:07:02,967 --> 00:07:04,856 until much later when I came to a 169 00:07:04,856 --> 00:07:06,967 verdict and I realized that all these 170 00:07:06,967 --> 00:07:09,189 overhead covers all these bunkers , all 171 00:07:09,189 --> 00:07:11,189 these protective designs , you know 172 00:07:11,189 --> 00:07:13,411 that that was showing me and my marines 173 00:07:13,411 --> 00:07:15,467 were developed here . It's quite eye 174 00:07:15,467 --> 00:07:18,430 opening to come back . This period of 175 00:07:18,430 --> 00:07:20,541 research and growth was unprecedented 176 00:07:20,541 --> 00:07:22,660 for er and instilled a mindset that 177 00:07:22,660 --> 00:07:24,827 allowed the organization to pivot when 178 00:07:24,827 --> 00:07:26,827 called upon to deliver solutions to 179 00:07:26,827 --> 00:07:29,690 impossible challenges and to anticipate 180 00:07:29,690 --> 00:07:32,000 solutions for challenges that loomed on 181 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,220 the horizon . So for er 182 00:07:35,770 --> 00:07:37,430 as a whole across all of our 183 00:07:37,430 --> 00:07:40,640 laboratories , we weren't just here and 184 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,980 in our field ranges within the 185 00:07:42,980 --> 00:07:45,860 continental US , we had many engineers , 186 00:07:45,860 --> 00:07:48,630 scientists , technicians and even admin 187 00:07:48,630 --> 00:07:51,760 professions who deployed down range 188 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,460 into our base camps and that were in 189 00:07:55,460 --> 00:07:58,360 the combat zones . Many stories came 190 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,700 back with those individuals where they 191 00:08:00,700 --> 00:08:04,260 could give us firsthand insight on what 192 00:08:04,270 --> 00:08:06,630 we had put in place out out in the 193 00:08:06,630 --> 00:08:09,770 field and how that impacted and how we 194 00:08:09,770 --> 00:08:12,480 could even do it better , But because 195 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,830 they had first hand information about 196 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,430 the legacy of former retired verdict 197 00:08:17,430 --> 00:08:19,680 employees is the banner that we all 198 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,013 carry forward every day . Uh , you know , 199 00:08:22,013 --> 00:08:24,770 on September 11 , 2001 , you know when 200 00:08:24,770 --> 00:08:26,881 the bell is wrong , the men and women 201 00:08:26,881 --> 00:08:28,992 have verdict , stood up and supported 202 00:08:28,992 --> 00:08:31,214 the war fighter , and we're still doing 203 00:08:31,214 --> 00:08:30,960 that today .