SEAL Survival Guide (27 page)
Read SEAL Survival Guide Online
Authors: Cade Courtley
If detonation is imminent, one idea is to sacrifice yourself and embrace the bomber to prevent those around you from receiving the full force of the blast. In most circumstances, this would be an extremely hard choice, but if it came down to you dying or your children who were standing next to you, the appropriate action is clear—pull the trigger! Remember, action makes a hero, and as we say in the SEALs, “the greater good for the greater number.”
SEAL Michael Monsoor was acting for the greater good of his teammates on September 29, 2006, while part of a sniper overwatch security position in Iraq with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi Army soldiers. On that day, an insurgent threw a fragmentation grenade at their position. It struck Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Although he was right next to an exit, Monsoor shouted to others to take cover, and then, without hesitation, he spread his body over the explosive, saving his fellow SEALs. He passed away approximately thirty minutes later from his injuries. Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
If a Bomb Detonates
If you are in the vicinity when a bomb goes off, it happens so fast and unexpectedly that there are limited survival tools that will help. The best response is to hit the ground and lie flat, covering your head with your fingers laced. Keep your legs crossed and your mouth opened. If your mouth is closed, the concussion or shock waves from the explosion can burst your lungs and your eardrums. The scenarios depicted in movies with the character leaping away, spread-eagle, will only increase your chance of sustaining more injuries.
I can’t tell you how happy it made me every time I heard that a suicide bomber attack had occurred and the result was only one dead: the bomber. I knew things were getting desperate in Iraq when they started sending women and kids with explosive vests to do their dirty work. Not only did they run out of virgins, they ran out of anyone with a sense of courage. Shit bags!
BRIDGE COLLAPSE
In the last fifty years, more than a hundred bridges gave way unexpectedly and collapsed. Whether from wind, flood, overload, or an engineering flaw, any of the nearly six hundred thousand bridges in the U.S. that have spans of more than twenty feet could fail without warning. In 2007, for example, the I-35W bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapsed during the height of evening rush hour. It was built in 1967 and carried 140,000 cars across its 1,900-foot span daily. Despite inspections, the bridge failed, ultimately causing 13 deaths and injuring nearly 150. As America’s infrastructure continues to decay, it is wise to be alert when driving across any elevated roadway.
When a bridge collapses, there will usually be no warning. When the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed in 1940, its span wobbled and twisted well before it finally gave way, which allowed vehicles to clear off, causing no casualties. Typically, a bridge will simply collapse, similar to how destruction is caused during an earthquake. If you are in your car and see the vehicles ahead of you disappearing below, and realize that your turn is inevitably next, keep your seat belt on and brace for impact. A one-hundred-foot plunge from a bridge into the water would be similar to a collision at 60 mph. If the car drops more than twenty feet, the front end, where the engine is located, which is the heaviest part, will usually cause the vehicle to nose-dive. Air bags
will be deployed upon your impact with the water. (Refer back to “Auto Accident,”
page 77
.)
Several years ago, I had an opportunity to go through the Naval Aviation Survival Training Program. The highlight (or worst part of the training, depending on whom you ask) included a ride in “the Dunker.” It’s a device you strap into that is meant to simulate a plane or helicopter crashing into the ocean. It strikes the pool water and flips upside down. Once the movement stops, all you have to do is get out of your safety harness and swim to the surface. If you ever watched
An Officer and a Gentleman,
you’ll know what I’m talking about. (In the movie, David Caruso freaked out in it, before he became ultracool in
CSI: Miami
.) I enjoyed the hell out of my try in the Dunker. But the thought of impacting the ocean at night, at four times the speed, and crammed in with twenty other guys wearing a ton of gear and with only a couple of escape routes, is something else. That would not be fun. Yep, I still hate helicopters.
Bracing for Impact
If you are about to plunge into the water:
1. Place your hands on the steering wheel at four o’clock and eight o’clock to allow the air bag to deploy without striking your arms or hands.
2. Scrunch your shoulders up so your neck is between them. Even though air bags will still be deployed, the danger will be in getting thrown against the roof of the car and breaking your neck. (Of course, you
are
wearing your seat belt, no?)
3. Fully extend your legs so that your feet are flat on the floor, off the pedals. The more spread the better.
4. Keep your head all the way back against the headrest.
5. Keep your lungs full of air.
How to Escape a Submerged Vehicle
Finding yourself in a car submerged in water is far more likely to occur due to human error than to roadway or bridge failure. In the U.S., more than ten thousand vehicles annually end up in an accident classified as an “auto immersion incident.” Numerous roads border canals, rivers, and lakes, and it is usually some sort of driver distraction that results in a car ending up in the drink. Whatever caused you to wind up there, once the car is in water, the next phase of survival must be implemented immediately.
