An Outstanding Humanitarian Effort
Orbital Screener a Global influence in
Humanitarian
Mine Clearance
-By Guy Petts
I
have had the privilege of being able to work across the world as the mechanical
manager in two of the biggest Humanitarian Mineclearance Organisations, The
HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group albeit in war affected countries where the
work is extremely stimulating. The challenges are difficult to find off the
shelf machinery and equipment to deal with the after war contamination and the
investigation leads us to lots of interesting and motivated people particularly
when they find out what we want the machines for, Orbit Screens have shared
that enthusiasm with support above and beyond.
The
first association with Orbit Screens in early 2000 was with the US DOD, in
particular Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) or as it is
now called, Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) who I
have had the privilege to have worked with
for over 15 years. The team from HD R&D were looking for a versatile
screening unit that was robust, economical, manoeuvrable and simple to operate,
particularly in war ravaged countries. My contact with Orbit Screens started
with the first unit going into Afghanistan courtesy of US DOD where it was used
to screen soil excavated from minefields in the central, northern and western
regions, the soil was excavated and fed into the screener and anti-personnel
mines and unexploded munitions would appear from the Overs Conveyor. By the
time I left Afghanistan there were at least three Orbital Screeners in country,
some of those worked around Bagram US Base and I would sometimes wonder whether
the Military personnel who would watch us work from behind the wire actually realised
that the Orbital Screeners came from the US. Due to the successful use of the
Orbital Screener we then bought another one and I accompanied it into
Mozambique where it carried out anti-personnel mine clearance working on
stockpiled earth along a 70 mile long electric pylon line, which links South
Africa. The job entailed screening stockpiled soil that had been bulldozed away
from the pylons, which were all minefields, so that after the war the national
Electric Company could get access to the pylons for maintenance work. The work
took approximately 4 years to complete and the Orbital Screener was the
predominant clearance machine, clearing in excess of 10 thousand anti-personnel
mines and ordnance.
The
move to MAG included an evolution of innovation, which inevitably included the
Orbital Screener, which we brought into Northern Iraq, where it worked on legacy
minefields from the Iran - Iraq war to the Gulf war barrier minefields and the
border minefields of Turkey and Syria, which in recent times the Orbital
Screener helped with safe passage for refugees. Again thousands of mines and
ordnance have been cleared using the Orbital Screener with over 5000 hours and
one engine change and very little in the way of component replacements. This
provided the impetus to then buy and bring another Orbital Screener into
Lebanon where we are running it on the Israeli - Lebanese border minefields.
The continued support from Brad and the company has been great and any issue
whether big or small has been met with the same enthusiasm as it has always
been.
Guy Petts
Guy Petts
Global
Mechanical Operations Manager
Mines Advisory Group
12/29/2017, Brad’s Blog #98
When
we began to make Orbital Action Screening plants some 20 odd years ago,
we thought our design was unique, and it is. The first use was
obvious, compost and topsoil. Our machine is very good at
removing not just rock but almost every other unwanted material from
compost and topsoil. What happened over the next several
years still amazes us. Our customers started to come up with
their own unique applications. The original Model 68 became the
68A, then 68B and now 68C, each change addressing new
applications. One machine was even mounted on a barge to remove
hazardous waste from a lake bed. You read that right, Orbital
Action works with water!
Our primary goal has always been making money for both our customers
and ourselves. About 15 years ago at a dairy farm compost
demonstration day we were made aware of a group within the US Army
focusing on removing land mines. This was, as you can imagine, a
complete surprise. This unusual application has grown and we now have
15 machines working around the world.
Receiving
this Essay from Mr. Guy Petts was an emotional experience that I want
to share.
I am at loss for words, humbled by their success and personal
dedication working in remote, hostile areas of our world.
While your application may not have the humanitarian angle that this
one does, we love hearing how our machines are being used. Please
tell us you job story, send it to brad@orbitscreens.com
Happy screening
Brad Schnittjer
Blog # 98 12/29/2017
I
will continue my
comments about the many advantages of Orbital Action Screening in my
next Blog. Meanwhile, look over our Videos and Job Stories
to learn more about Orbital Action Screening. Our products, with their
user friendly features and high performance levels could take you into
a new season with a much higher profit potential.
Send
us your requirements by filling out and submitting the Intended
Use Form
and you will soon have full details and a quote for the correct model
and available options to fulfill your job application needs
“The
Finer Cut”, is Brad’s Blog. Each issue will cover a topic of interest
about our machines, our industry, our customers and more. I am excited
about the opportunity to use a Blog to broaden our communications with
our customers and industry. I invite you to return and visit from time
to time, cruising through previous issues to learn many details
regarding our products.
I
also invite you, our reader to contribute by offering your comments.
Please send your thoughts to brad@orbitscreens.com, by letter or fax, 563-922 9060.
|
|