Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
The 24th annual Saginaw Bay Waterfowl Festival is set for Aug. 3-4 at Bay City State Park’s Saginaw Bay Visitor Center. Festival activities run 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Read more
Kryptek Outdoor Group and CarbonTV Announce Sweepstakes for “INVICTUS”: A Customized 2019 Chevy Silverado worth nearly $100K
Kryptek Outdoor Group and CarbonTV have partnered on an epic sweepstakes where one lucky winner will win a 2019 Chevy Silverado Trail Boss named INVICTUS, fully customized and wrapped in Kryptek Typhon™ camo and valued at nearly $100,000. Enter up to twice daily at CarbonTV.Com now until December 15, 2019.
INVICTUS will be customized at the world-famous Prefix Corporation in Michigan. CarbonTV will be documenting the process with weekly video updates, allowing users to follow along and provide feedback. While the truck exterior will boast a full Kryptek wrap and aggressive upgrades, including a lift kit; the interior will be finely detailed with one-of-a-kind Kryptek accents. Viewers can interact with CarbonTV and Kryptek via social media to give their opinions on what upgrades they would like to see. The finished product will be revealed to the public upon completion. Read more
Project preproposals are due Aug. 30
An estimated $1.825 million is expected to be available through a new Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant opportunity that combines three previously separate programs and will provide targeted funding for a variety of activities including fish habitat conservation, dam removal and repair, resource assessment studies and access to recreation.
Joe Nohner, a resource analyst with the DNR Fisheries Division, said the department decided to unite those programs to make it easier for applicants to apply for and receive funding, for efficiency and consistency in grant management, to better incorporate stakeholder feedback and, ultimately, to improve outcomes for natural resources and human safety. Read more
Lt. Brandon Kieft, conservation officer with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, was the first law enforcement agent to arrive at the scene when a group of people reported that they believed they had found Gabriella Vitale, a 2-year-old girl who went missing Monday morning.
More than 20 DNR conservation officers were working the search and rescue operation with several other law enforcement agencies, including the Oscoda County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police.
Kieft was at the search and rescue command center when the call was received Tuesday morning from the group of people who believed they found Gabriella.
Kieft headed to the area and arrived at the cabin where Gabriella was reported to be located, which is about one mile west of M-33 in Oscoda. There, he was able to positively identify the young girl as Gabriella Vitale around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Read more
Major contract award means multiple branches of the U.S. Military will be using Med-Eng bomb suits and helmets
Helps secure highly skilled manufacturing jobs in northern New York state
OGDENSBURG, New York – Med-Eng®, a brand of The Safariland Group, announced today a $10.2M delivery order added to a 2017 contract awarded by the United States Air Force for EOD® 10 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suits and helmets. This particular delivery order is for the U.S. Marine Corps with all deliveries being made to their bases across the U.S.
This selection by the Marine Corps completes acceptance by multiple branches of the United States military, including the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Army, of the most current Med-Eng bomb suit ensembles to protect EOD teams for years to come. Earlier in 2019, the Army also selected a unique variation of the EOD 10 suit architecture from Med-Eng, as its second generation Advanced Bomb Suit (ABS II).
The Air Force increased its Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract previously awarded to Med-Eng in March 2017 from $11M to $26.5M to allow the Marine Corps to utilize its contract vehicle already procuring EOD 10 ensembles for the Air Force. Read more
WASHINGTON – July 12, 2019 – The American Red Cross issued an emergency need for eligible individuals of all blood types to give now and help save patient lives following a busy Independence Day week. Currently blood donations are being distributed to hospitals faster than donations are coming in—blood donors are needed to help avoid delays in lifesaving medical care. Schedule your blood donation appointment by visiting RedCrossBlood.org.
Fewer blood donors and blood drives last week have escalated the Red Cross call for all blood and platelet donors to help ensure hospital needs are met. More than 450 fewer blood drives were held than during a typical week the week of July 4 which may have led to as many as 17,000 fewer blood donations. AAA reported that nearly 49 million Americans—the highest recorded number—took trips would take trips to celebrate the Independence Day holiday, potentially making donors less available to give during the busy holiday week. Read more
Introducing the All-New FAT TIRE RidgeRunner
We took the advanced fire-link, 4-bar suspension platform from our ultra-capable RidgeRunner bikes and built it into a fat-tire version. Featuring 26×4.8” tires and 150mm of suspension travel, a wide-range 9-speed drivetrain and a 1000 or 750 watt motor; the new RidgeRunner is built for the most rugged terrain making it the ultimate exploration machine. Bikepacking, camping, accessing high mountain lakes: do it all quietly and efficiently using the electric pedal assist. Capable of hauling either one of the QuietKat trailers, you can bring all your gear with you for an adventure in the backcountry, an overnight expedition, or a multi-day bikepacking adventure.
The Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan History Center and the Eastern Market Partnership have agreed to relocate the Detroit home of Julia and Lt. Ulysses S. Grant from the former state fairgrounds to the corner of Orleans and Wilkins streets. There, after renovation, it will become a new resource for residents, schoolchildren and visitors.
The new location, which is part of the Eastern Market garden project, will include gardens and a small orchard. The setting will complement the house, whose major attraction – according to a letter Ulysses sent to Julia – was “a garden filled with the best kind of fruit … a long arbour grown over with vines that will bear fine grapes in abundance for us and to give away … currents [sic] and plum & peach trees.” Read more
Swansboro, N.C. – High Speed Gear®, manufacturer of Battle-Proven Tactical Gear™, is proud to release a new nylon medical pouch, the Tourniquet TACO®.
Built from Cordura® nylon, this pouch is designed to retain most windlass-style tourniquets, such as SAM® XT, C-A-T®, SOF® TT, and SOF® TT Wide tourniquets, in one pouch. This new TACO® includes HSGI’s® unique shock cord design with an adjustable, removable Velcro® flap, which enables open-top use. The pouch also features a “hand-up” flap design that lifts the tourniquet up when opening to make it easier to grab. The four rows of laser-cut MOLLE provide flexibility to mount the pouch 1” up or 1” down with the included (1) HSGI® Clip.
“Carrying a tourniquet has become commonplace in everyday life. High Speed Gear’s new Tourniquet TACO makes that easier to do with its soft design and easily-accessible Velcro® flap,” explained Bill Babboni, High Speed Gear Vice President of Sales and Operations. “We always want to make it easier to carry the gear you need day in and day out.” Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
This is the weekend that kicks off summer, although I think we should have done something to kick-start spring, as well. It’s also Memorial Day weekend – a time to reflect on those brave Americans who gave their lives to better ours. One of those people who stepped forward is my honorable uncle, Van Wunderlich, who volunteered for military duty in World War II. Although he not only made it through the war, he’s still with us in Demorest, Georgia and is going strong at 93 years young.
From Van’s book, Abundant Anecdotes about the Past, he details his role to save our freedoms, as follows.
I signed up for the Army Air Force on April 19, 1944 and reported to boot camp at Fort Sheridan near Chicago, Illinois. Mom added another silver star to the living room window [my father, Van’s only brother, was the other one.]
I thought the B-17 was one of the largest airplanes I had ever seen. The Air Corps had purchased 12,724 of these bombers [which] received the name Flying Fortress by a Seattle reporter. It had thirteen 50-caliber machine guns located in the nose, top turret, middle section, tail section, and the ball turret underneath the fuselage.
I received a Sharp Shooters Medal while training. We were given a choice of the position we would like to prepare for – and, not being claustrophobic, I chose to train for the ball turret position.
A young turret gunner
There was a height limit of 5 feet 8 inches, so I crouched down when they measured me. I wasn’t informed that some referred to the ball turret as a suicide position, but on examination, there was no higher casualty rate for that area than any other. In case of a belly landing, the turret could be dropped in an operation lasting between 20 and 40 minutes. It was desirable to drop the ball turret to prevent unnecessary damage to the rest of the fuselage. Now they tell me. I never knew at the time, but I did know there was no one in the ball for landings and takeoffs.
We boarded an enormous Italian ocean liner for the long voyage across the Atlantic. We zigzagged in a course that took us 14 days to complete in order to prevent any German submarines from following. The morning came for our first mission. Rising in the dark about 4:00 a.m., we ate breakfast and went directly to the briefing room. The target for the day was a factory somewhere in Czechoslovakia. We took off before dawn for the lengthy eight-hour flight and observed several other B-17s flying with us in close formation.
During training, we were shown quick images of enemy fighting planes such as the German Messerschmitt and the Focke-Wulf-190, as well as our own fighting planes such as the P-51 Mustang. We had to be able to quickly identify in a second what target to shoot at. “Bandits at 3 o-clock high,” a voice would yell, and a silhouette would be flashed to identify. It all came back to me as we made our way over enemy territory.
It was extremely cold during the flight and I found that one of my boots was not heating properly. By occasionally slipping my foot into the lower part of my heated flying suit, I could counteract the numb feeling I was experiencing. It was about this time my mind started playing tricks on me and I thought that if this ball turret ever broke loose from the rest of the plane, I could become a human bomb. I quickly dismissed that idea as I said a little prayer: “Oh God, please be with us today. We are so small and the world is so big.” At the age of 18, I felt invincible as we dropped our payload and returned to England. A debriefing took place just as it does in the old movies with a shot of brandy given to each of us and the long day was over.
It was about 2 days after that mission and the war was declared over. May 8, 1945 is known as V.E. Day. Wow, what a relief.
Hats off to Uncle Van and all those who’ve served – many giving all. It’s been a few years since I’ve visited Van, but I’m already planning a trip to Georgia to shake the man’s hand once again. See you soon, Uncle Van.