What's a HESCO?

I've mentioned before that technology has changed the face of modern warfare. One interesting thing to me is how we protect our people/facilities. In old war movies you remember walls of sandbags protecting things and giving shelter. Well not any more. We've got a faster cleaner way. It is called a HESCO. It's named after the company that invented/produces them I think. The bottom line is it is a heavy cardboard box wrapped in wire mesh on the outside. We use large machinery to fill it instead of the old way with two guys and a shovel. It's very quick to set up and provides good rigid structure. Now we also have lots of concrete and jersey barriers (see earlier blogs about painted barriers) but in many cases we have these HESCOs as well. They can be stacked to provide a significant wall.

Here are some pics to help you understand what they look like.





Just for reference I have also put in a pic of some sandbags. The other advatage of the HESCO is they stand up to the wind and weather a little better. The sandbags eventually erode and become a mess. Just like in this picture. And these sandbags are just one layer over a concrete bunker (see corner coming through) so you can imagine what a mess it would be if they were 3-4 deep to create a wall. At camp Victory the temp tent we were in had some reall issues. The sandbags around the outside were falling into the tent on one side and falling away on the other. I'm guessing the HESCOs keep thier shape just a little better.

Here's a link to the wikipedia page on them if you want to learn a little more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesco_bastion

Today is Sunday and I have the morning off. That's good for me because I will enjoy church.

Brandon had wings the other day for dinner. When I saw his plate I mentioned that I missed "Pops" the wings guy from Victory. He said "yeah, we went from 106 types - to 1" (I think he still enjoyed the wings though).