Trump’s statements about IEDs (improvised explosion devices) make Iraq and Afghanistan veterans literally cringe. Before the Iowa caucus, presidential candidate Donald Trump made comments in reference to the 2,300 up-armored Humvees stolen by the Islamic State in Mosul in 2014. Trump said, “I talk about it all the time: 2,300 brand new up-armored Humvees, I talk about it all the time…the best in the world,” Trump said. “Armor-plated, top, bottom, all over, if a bomb goes off, our wounded warriors—instead of losing their legs, their arms, worse—they’re okay. They go for a little ride upward and they come down.” (Gibbons-Neff, 2016)

Many have attributed these comments to a simple mistake, but it just shows the level of disconnect a presidential candidate has with the military community when they have not served in the military. Thankfully, we now use MRAPs (mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles) instead of Humvees, but even with the MRAPs, men and women still suffer devastating injuries:

“MRAPs and their V-shaped hulls were designed specifically to withstand roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Even still, Iraqi and Afghan insurgents managed to build explosives that flipped MRAPs over—often ejecting the service member in the turret—or were so strong that even if the vehicle survived, the concussion from the shockwave would collapse the occupants’ organs.” (Gibbons-Neff, 2016)

My recommendation to the Trump campaign is to hire a new military advisor to bring him up to speed on what the troops overseas have and will continue to face in the future. Don’t be an ass and trivialize the deaths and injuries Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have made when faced with IEDs.

References

Gibbons-Neff, T. (2016, 02 01). Trump: If troops in up-armored Humvee hit IED ‘they go for a little ride upward and come down’. Retrieved 02 02, 2016, from The Washington Post.

 Featured image courtesy of nbcnews.com