In the trenches, our volunteeer trains ukrainian marines to remove land mines and explosive ordnance

I am John Faught.  I retired from the Navy after 20 years of active duty.  I am a Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician.  A Master Blaster. I have been in 3 combat zones and my last deployment was to Babylon Iraq in 2004 where my primary mission was rendering safe Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), aka Roadside Bombs.  My secondary mission was to dispose of ordnance, fuzed/unfuzed, and armed/unarmed, denying the enemy of explosive/energetic material to make IEDs. Near Baghdad I disposed of a mound of explosives from a ordnance making factory that had been destroyed.  The explosive mound was approx 5.5 feet high and approx 20 feet in diameter.  The enemy was chiseling explosives out of this mound to make IEDs. I retired in 2005.

In 2006 I applied for and became a full time Police Officer in Washington State.  I was a cop for 12 years.  During that time I spent approx 10 years on patrol 2 years as a Property Crimes Detective and 4 years as a Public Safety Bomb Technician.  A Bomb Technician.

In Dec 2023 my wife, Traci and I went to Ukraine and Volunteered in the Kryvyi Rih area of the Dnipro Oblast.  We provided UnExploded Ordnance (UXO) safety and explosive safety presentations to approx:

75 Patrol Police, 17 Police Instructors, 185 civilians, 56 Sappers, 180 students, and 15 utility city workers.  With the help of my lovely assistant, Traci, I built 3 IED training kits which consisted of all the necessary components to make 12-15 IEDs.  With these kits, I was able to boobytrap and landmine training trenches and buildings for the troops to clear and make the areas safe for their training scenarios. (Traci has photos of the kits, trenches and buildings) We left Ukraine on day 85 of a 90 passport entry.

Prior to going to Ukraine we found the Sunflower FUND, contacted the founder, Marketa, and met with her to discuss our trip.  We told her were going to Ukraine without a solid plan.  We had tons of questions for Marketa and she became our "Calm".  Going to Ukraine was completely unknown and we were blind.  Through the military I had been to approx 30 countries but Traci had not been out of North America.  Marketa guided us and we became friends. We also found a Ukrainian friend in Stanwood, Yulia.  We contacted her, explained our story and within a week we had a Zoom call into Ukraine with a founder of Shelter + in Kryvyi Rih.  Kryvyi Rih is President Zelinski's hometown.  We had no idea but quickly learned this fact.  Shelter + is a community center that grew because of the community needs.  They did not have a sphere for our skillset but they wanted to allow us to help bridge the gap they had between the military and police.  Shelter + grew into a food bank, clothing bank, community laundry service, educational center, and soldier's rehabilitation center where the soldier's family can stay with them during recovery.  Our time in Kryvyi Rih was......rewarding.  We were happy, sad, glad, heartbroken, we cried, laughed, hugged a lot for strength, etc.  Rewarding is the best word I can use because you will exercise all your feelings in a very short time because of the situation and conditions in Ukraine. We now have friends and families in Ukraine.  We are loved by so many who need as much help as anyone is willing to give.Yet, they still have room and strength to love us. The crazy Americans who came to Ukraine, during a full on violent war! When we returned to the US, we became volunteers for Sunflower FUND because we now know, Sunflower FUND is a nonprofit that actually makes a huge impact on the lives of everyday Ukrainians who can be the most vulnerable.

During my presentations there was a lot of talk about landmines.  How do they function? If I hear a click, what should I do?  How long do they last? How to move around in a minefield? How to get rid of landmines? With donations, I was able to purchase 2 used US military landmine detectors, CEIAv2s.  These are excellent landmine detectors that are extremely portable and waterproof which means weatherproof. They weigh approx 6.5 pounds with batteries and a case. They are perfect for small unit tactics.  They are easy to use once you understand how they work.  That is my job.  Providing training on landmine detectors so going through a landmine field is an option.  They could locate and mark landmines so an entire squad/company can quickly and safely move through a minefield.  The area denial weapon has just been reduced to a hazard that doesn't have to stop or delay a mission. Minefields are used to funnel targets to the sights of waiting guns.  Some of those guns are mounted on armor.

After conducting the trench training, the building training, and presentations in 2023/2024, someone reached out to me and thought I would be a good fit for the Tactical Combat Advisory Group (TCAG).  They gave me the number to contact some guy named Top.  I may be Navy but I know what a "Top" is.  I spoke with Top and he asked how long we were going to be in Ukraine.  I replied, "4 days. Our clock is running out of time."  For the next year  I stayed in contact with Top and well, here I am .  So far being with TCAG is a very good fit for me and I am very happy to have followed up with Top.  I hope I do not become a N.I.B. when my time has expired on this trip.  NIB is Never Invited Back.  Only time will tell.  Right now, I am feeling good about this decision.