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Charleston Beat — June 17

By Staff | Jun 20, 2008

West Virginian tractor supports the troops

The United States Army operates as a collective unit. It has agency, overall autonomy and home to some of the most complex and strategic military minds of our time. That’s not to say that they don’t need help from time to time.

A company out of Cross Lanes, W.Va., is responding to the call — big time. Looking for a way to deal with roadside bombs in Iraq, the military is open to suggestions and thought experiments (practical or otherwise) from anyone, so when John Cunningham heard of this, he got his company rolling.   

In all of six weeks, Cunningham and his company Terramite came up with ARGUS — Area Reconnaissance Ground and Urban Support vehicle. Technically speaking, and let me know if I lose you here, it’s basically a backhoe. Terramite’s T7 backhoe to be exact. Equipped with either manual or remote control access, the ARGUS passed the test beautifully and was requested for immediate use.

It’s kind of funny and borderline stereotypical to think that West Virginia responded by offering the military a tractor for strategic operations, but Cunningham’s design seems to be working well. It’s easily accessible and the multi-format vehicle is ready to go for any occasion, be it roadside bomb or roadblock.

Charleston Hosts Strongest Man, Graffiti Staffers may apply

Phil Pfister is a behemoth of a man. In fact, he’s more like an animal. Scratch that, he is borderline creature — the man is big.

Fortunately for us, he’s from Charleston, W.Va., so if we ever have some sort of state on state battle royale, we’re probably going to win because he is the 2006 World’s Strongest Man Champion. And our state rocks. I digress.

If you’re unfamiliar with the World’s Strongest Man competition, it’s the program you see on ESPN in the wee hours of the night on reruns. It usually has some person lifting a car, throwing full kegs 30 feet over a wooden barrier or some other feat of impressive and daunting strength.

That sounds pretty American, doesn’t it? Well, Pfister is helping to organize a U.S. version of the competition with the inaugural America’s Strongest Man to be held July 4-6 in downtown Charleston. Helping him on the project will be Barry Frank, the man responsible for creating the World’s Strongest Man competition back in 1977.

The top 10 finishers in the competition on July 4 will move on to the July 5 and 6 competition, and the winner will receive $10,000. It will be broadcast on ESPN the following week.

Justin, Brad and I were going to enter but foreseeable conflicts are going to keep us out of the competition. Sorry America, we’ll have to settle for being your heroes in print instead of your heroes in rippling muscles. OK, if you want, you can refer to us as both.

Contact Ben at bspanner@graffitiwv.com

Charleston Beat — June 17

By Staff | Jun 20, 2008

West Virginian tractor supports the troops

The United States Army operates as a collective unit. It has agency, overall autonomy and home to some of the most complex and strategic military minds of our time. That’s not to say that they don’t need help from time to time.

A company out of Cross Lanes, W.Va., is responding to the call — big time. Looking for a way to deal with roadside bombs in Iraq, the military is open to suggestions and thought experiments (practical or otherwise) from anyone, so when John Cunningham heard of this, he got his company rolling.  

In all of six weeks, Cunningham and his company Terramite came up with ARGUS — Area Reconnaissance Ground and Urban Support vehicle. Technically speaking, and let me know if I lose you here, it’s basically a backhoe. Terramite’s T7 backhoe to be exact. Equipped with either manual or remote control access, the ARGUS passed the test beautifully and was requested for immediate use.

It’s kind of funny and borderline stereotypical to think that West Virginia responded by offering the military a tractor for strategic operations, but Cunningham’s design seems to be working well. It’s easily accessible and the multi-format vehicle is ready to go for any occasion, be it roadside bomb or roadblock.

Charleston Hosts Strongest Man, Graffiti Staffers may apply

Phil Pfister is a behemoth of a man. In fact, he’s more like an animal. Scratch that, he is borderline creature — the man is big.

Fortunately for us, he’s from Charleston, W.Va., so if we ever have some sort of state on state battle royale, we’re probably going to win because he is the 2006 World’s Strongest Man Champion. And our state rocks. I digress.

If you’re unfamiliar with the World’s Strongest Man competition, it’s the program you see on ESPN in the wee hours of the night on reruns. It usually has some person lifting a car, throwing full kegs 30 feet over a wooden barrier or some other feat of impressive and daunting strength.

That sounds pretty American, doesn’t it? Well, Pfister is helping to organize a U.S. version of the competition with the inaugural America’s Strongest Man to be held July 4-6 in downtown Charleston. Helping him on the project will be Barry Frank, the man responsible for creating the World’s Strongest Man competition back in 1977.

The top 10 finishers in the competition on July 4 will move on to the July 5 and 6 competition, and the winner will receive $10,000. It will be broadcast on ESPN the following week.

Justin, Brad and I were going to enter but foreseeable conflicts are going to keep us out of the competition. Sorry America, we’ll have to settle for being your heroes in print instead of your heroes in rippling muscles. OK, if you want, you can refer to us as both.

Contact Ben at bspanner@graffitiwv.com