Memorial Day is an opportunity to remember our fallen military heroes who died in active service. This year, I’m thinking about Chief Petty Officer Nicolas Checque who died leading a SEAL Team 6 operation in eastern Afghanistan to free an American hostage from the Taliban on December 8, 2012. His bravery in that operation earned him the Navy Cross. One of his teammates, Senior Chief Petty Officer Edward Byers Jr., who earned the Medal of Honor for that same mission, remembered Checque in this way, “He lived his life as a warrior, he carried out countless missions selflessly and fearlessly. He paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Read more about this remarkable Naval warrior in this article.
But Checque’s story didn’t end that night in Afghanistan. It caused U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to revisit its search for an Iron Man-like suit of robotic armor. The search has been on for a futuristic warfighting outfit since 1961 and it continues today. Its value to first-through-the-door operatives like Checque is obvious. I think you’ll enjoy reading the history of the search for a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) in this article.