Fiocchi Match Ammo - Wow!!
- Thread starter Bartok5
- Start date
Hi Still Alive,
Yes, my injuries were incurred while mentoring the Afghan National Army in the conduct of combat operations in Zhari District of Kandahar Province. We were conducting a village sweep which turned into a rescue mission when an adjacent Canadian sub-unit became involved in a heavy contact to our flank. A Canadian Sergeant was shot and was going to die if his platoon could not evacuate him to a secure helicopter landing site. We had to take over the fight so that the platoon in contact could withdraw with their casualties unmolested. Enroute to relieve the platoon in contact we were caught in a complex ambush. The enemy (correctly) identified me as a high-value target (leadership) and waited for me to step on a piece of dirt that many had crossed before me. They triggered an improvised explosive device (made of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel) underneath me to initiate the ambush, then using the chaos caused by the IED they hit us from 3 sides using PKM general-purpose machineguns and Rocket-Proppelled Grenades (RPGs). We were involved in a heavy firefight while those around the 5 injured did their best to stabilize our wounds under intense fire. I was awake and lucid throughout, although my left leg was vaporized above the knee and my right leg was just hanging on by a few threads at the knee. Both femoral arteries were pumping hard, so I knew I only had a few minutes. The troops around me were tremendous - they piled on and stopped the bleeding with 2 tourniquets per leg. Nobody (myself included) noticed that I also had a missing testicle and abdominal wounds, as the legs sort of stole the show. Anyhow, once we won the firefight my Senior Medic (who was concussed) saved my life with a shot of Rescue-Flow, a synthetic blood expander. He won the Medal of Military Valour for his performance under fire that day. It took approximately 90 minutes to evacuate me cross-country on a SCEDCO litter (a crazy-carpet with handles) across irrigation ditches, etc, etc. All the while the enemy continued to probe our flanks but were held off by a platoon of Afghans under my Sergeant Major acting as a mobile blocking force for what amounted to a Withdrawal in Contact. We finally used artillery to break free at the Arghandab River, where we had established the emergency helicopter landing site. Once I was on the evac Blackhawk I knew that I only had to stay alive another 30 minutes to the Role 3 Hospital at Kandahar Airfield. I was still awake when we arrived, but promptly died on the operating table once they put me under. My body just kind of gave up, I suppose. Anyhow they brought me back with the paddles and all was good until a week later in Landstuhl Germany when I had a Cardio-Pulmonary Embolism from a loose blood clot that travelled to my heart. I happened to be in the best ICU in the world at the time, so they were able to resuscitate me again. After 2 weeks in Germany, 2 months of surgeries in the University of Alberta Hospital and 2 more months of physical rehab at the Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton, here I am.
That was all back in June to September 2008. It took the better part of a year to get my meds stabilized so that the pain was under control. I crawled into the bottom of a bottle while coping with the physical pain and the psychological loss of my legs. It didn't help that my entire adult identity was wrapped up in 27 years (at that point) as a hard-charging light infantry officer. That was all over in an instant, and not by a means of my choosing. That's what stung. Anyhow, it took a couple of years before I sorted myself out with a stint at rehab and got a grip on things. Now 9 years have passed and I am pleased to report that life is great. Really great! I am retired, but still very busy as a husband and father of two kids 21 and 18 years old. I finally have the time that I always wanted to do the things that I like - hunting, fishing, target shooting, riding our "husband and wife" ATVs, etc. For the first time this year, I have managed to hit the range weekly during the good weather. I shoot weekly indoors during the winter months, but don't find it nearly as satisfying as shooting outdoors at longer ranges during the good weather. I am heavily involved in Veterans' Advocacy, working both within and against the government of Canada to achieve fair compensation for those injured after implementation of the odious "New Veteran's Charter" on 1 April 2006. Within the ###, I sit on the Minister of Veteran's Affairs Policy Advisory Group, which is a volunteer position that I was asked to fill given my particular background and current circumstances. Against the ###, I am one of 6 representative plaintiffs involved in a class-action lawsuit known as the "Equitas" case, which seeks fair compensation for those adversely affected by the New Veteran's Charter. We are in our 6th year of litigation and hope to receive a favourable ruling from the BC Court of Appeals in the near future so that we can proceed with certification for the Supreme Court of Canada. Yeah, we are "that" veterans lawsuit that you occasionally read about in the newspaper or hear about on the news.
Anyhow, you asked, so that's pretty much how things have played out thus far. Too much detail to really get into, but I trust you get the gist of things. As you can see, I don't mind talking about it....
Cheers,
Mark C
Yes, my injuries were incurred while mentoring the Afghan National Army in the conduct of combat operations in Zhari District of Kandahar Province. We were conducting a village sweep which turned into a rescue mission when an adjacent Canadian sub-unit became involved in a heavy contact to our flank. A Canadian Sergeant was shot and was going to die if his platoon could not evacuate him to a secure helicopter landing site. We had to take over the fight so that the platoon in contact could withdraw with their casualties unmolested. Enroute to relieve the platoon in contact we were caught in a complex ambush. The enemy (correctly) identified me as a high-value target (leadership) and waited for me to step on a piece of dirt that many had crossed before me. They triggered an improvised explosive device (made of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel) underneath me to initiate the ambush, then using the chaos caused by the IED they hit us from 3 sides using PKM general-purpose machineguns and Rocket-Proppelled Grenades (RPGs). We were involved in a heavy firefight while those around the 5 injured did their best to stabilize our wounds under intense fire. I was awake and lucid throughout, although my left leg was vaporized above the knee and my right leg was just hanging on by a few threads at the knee. Both femoral arteries were pumping hard, so I knew I only had a few minutes. The troops around me were tremendous - they piled on and stopped the bleeding with 2 tourniquets per leg. Nobody (myself included) noticed that I also had a missing testicle and abdominal wounds, as the legs sort of stole the show. Anyhow, once we won the firefight my Senior Medic (who was concussed) saved my life with a shot of Rescue-Flow, a synthetic blood expander. He won the Medal of Military Valour for his performance under fire that day. It took approximately 90 minutes to evacuate me cross-country on a SCEDCO litter (a crazy-carpet with handles) across irrigation ditches, etc, etc. All the while the enemy continued to probe our flanks but were held off by a platoon of Afghans under my Sergeant Major acting as a mobile blocking force for what amounted to a Withdrawal in Contact. We finally used artillery to break free at the Arghandab River, where we had established the emergency helicopter landing site. Once I was on the evac Blackhawk I knew that I only had to stay alive another 30 minutes to the Role 3 Hospital at Kandahar Airfield. I was still awake when we arrived, but promptly died on the operating table once they put me under. My body just kind of gave up, I suppose. Anyhow they brought me back with the paddles and all was good until a week later in Landstuhl Germany when I had a Cardio-Pulmonary Embolism from a loose blood clot that travelled to my heart. I happened to be in the best ICU in the world at the time, so they were able to resuscitate me again. After 2 weeks in Germany, 2 months of surgeries in the University of Alberta Hospital and 2 more months of physical rehab at the Glenrose Hospital in Edmonton, here I am.
That was all back in June to September 2008. It took the better part of a year to get my meds stabilized so that the pain was under control. I crawled into the bottom of a bottle while coping with the physical pain and the psychological loss of my legs. It didn't help that my entire adult identity was wrapped up in 27 years (at that point) as a hard-charging light infantry officer. That was all over in an instant, and not by a means of my choosing. That's what stung. Anyhow, it took a couple of years before I sorted myself out with a stint at rehab and got a grip on things. Now 9 years have passed and I am pleased to report that life is great. Really great! I am retired, but still very busy as a husband and father of two kids 21 and 18 years old. I finally have the time that I always wanted to do the things that I like - hunting, fishing, target shooting, riding our "husband and wife" ATVs, etc. For the first time this year, I have managed to hit the range weekly during the good weather. I shoot weekly indoors during the winter months, but don't find it nearly as satisfying as shooting outdoors at longer ranges during the good weather. I am heavily involved in Veterans' Advocacy, working both within and against the government of Canada to achieve fair compensation for those injured after implementation of the odious "New Veteran's Charter" on 1 April 2006. Within the ###, I sit on the Minister of Veteran's Affairs Policy Advisory Group, which is a volunteer position that I was asked to fill given my particular background and current circumstances. Against the ###, I am one of 6 representative plaintiffs involved in a class-action lawsuit known as the "Equitas" case, which seeks fair compensation for those adversely affected by the New Veteran's Charter. We are in our 6th year of litigation and hope to receive a favourable ruling from the BC Court of Appeals in the near future so that we can proceed with certification for the Supreme Court of Canada. Yeah, we are "that" veterans lawsuit that you occasionally read about in the newspaper or hear about on the news.
Anyhow, you asked, so that's pretty much how things have played out thus far. Too much detail to really get into, but I trust you get the gist of things. As you can see, I don't mind talking about it....
Cheers,
Mark C
Hey Mark,
Good on ya for finding some factory match ammo that shoots well in your rigs. 1 moa repeatably in an AR with factory ammo is plenty good, as far as I'm concerned. I've also been meaning to tell you that the talk you gave at the Got Your 6 match was moving. Much respect,
Dave
Good on ya for finding some factory match ammo that shoots well in your rigs. 1 moa repeatably in an AR with factory ammo is plenty good, as far as I'm concerned. I've also been meaning to tell you that the talk you gave at the Got Your 6 match was moving. Much respect,
Dave
Still alive
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rainy mosquito infested part of BC
A heartfelt thank you Mark. PM sent.
Wow, amazing how some people jump all over someone else's good shooting. We all can't shoot to the same level, and we all can't afford the expensive equipment.
Nice shooting Bartok5, and thank you for your service, both before your unfortunate incident and after. My best friend was injured in the former Yugoslavia, and he suffers daily but to his credit I never hear him complain. He is a fantastic shooter and amazing on the wind call, and it is my honour every time I get to shoot with him. Finally thanks for the info on the Fiocchi as a viable option for match ammo.
Nice shooting Bartok5, and thank you for your service, both before your unfortunate incident and after. My best friend was injured in the former Yugoslavia, and he suffers daily but to his credit I never hear him complain. He is a fantastic shooter and amazing on the wind call, and it is my honour every time I get to shoot with him. Finally thanks for the info on the Fiocchi as a viable option for match ammo.
angrysoldier
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- under your bed
I had a major who was missing a leg from the knee down. Never slowed him down. First met him at the army run in 08 as he flew past me. Great guy. An IED took his leg but not his heart. Did I mention he has 8 kids? Keep shooting regardless of what hardship life brings you.
Cheers
Angry.
Cheers
Angry.
Thanks for your service Mark. If have an immense respect for the military and cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice. Good luck with the legal procedures, When I think about all the money wasted by government on frivolous pet projects, it is a disgrace the veterans have to fight long and hard to get fair compensation.
Send me the brass and I'd be happy to reload it for you. Have tons of time on my hands this winter and it's a nice way to kill an afternoon. I love the painstaking tedium of loading high quality match ammo but don't have much need to do so these days. No big hassle to load up some OCW tests and go from there. I love reloading almost as much as shooting. Promise I won't blow you up twice.
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