Operation: Leaf Blower looks at the small companies that have come up with creative way to help US troops survive — while making a buck or two in the process:
One such request called for 80 industrial leaf blowers from Buffalo Turbine in Springville, N.Y. Iraqi insurgents sometimes bury improvised explosive devices under dirt and debris, so members of the REF devised a way to strap a leaf blower to the front of vehicles, making IEDs easier to spot. The company, which usually sells its equipment to golf courses, worked with the Army to make the blower’s rotating nozzle more durable.
The Army has also bought civilian lasers for a not-so-militant use:
The REF has also reached out to a two-person company located in a suburban home near Portland, Ore. The company, Beam of Light Technologies, imports green lasers from Taiwan for civilian uses such as classroom teaching and bird-watching. Soldiers in Iraq found that green lasers, more visible than red lasers, deliver a more effective warning to oncoming motorists that they’re approaching a checkpoint. The alternative, a few warning shots, was often mistaken as hostile fire, leading drivers to accelerate in fear and soldiers to open fire at what might be an attack. The REF reports that green lasers have enabled a 60% to 80% drop in aggressive driving at checkpoints.