Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > At Ease > The Early Bird

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-03-2012, 05:40   #1
wmaousley
Asset
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Middle East
Posts: 44
Man arrested with explosives at airport was Army expert

http://news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-e...001817371.html

************************************************** ******************

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A man arrested on New Years Eve at a Texas airport with explosives is an Army-trained demolitions expert and member of the elite Green Berets who served in Afghanistan and is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, military officials said on Monday.

Trey Scott Atwater, 30, was being held in the Midland, Texas County Jail on a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with an explosive, the FBI said.

He was detained after a routine Transportation Security Administration (TSA) check noticed he had explosives in his carry on luggage while trying to board an American Eagle flight from Midland International Airport to Dallas Saturday morning, according to an FBI statement.

Officials declined to speculate on the reason Atwater had the explosives, which city officials said were in "military grade explosives wrapping" in his bag.

"At no time was there any danger to the people at Midland International Airport or the people of Midland Texas," Mark Morgan, Special Agent in Charge of the El Paso office of the FBI said in a statement.

Michael Martinez, an FBI spokesman in El Paso, declined to say what type of explosive he was carrying, or the quantity of the explosive. It is not known whether he was in uniform at the time. Records show Atwater is a 1999 graduate of a Midland, Texas high school.

The address listed for Atwater in the Midland jail records is the home of Bonnie Atwater, Trey's mother. A woman who identified herself as Bonnie Atwater at that address told Reuters "I have no comment," and then hung up the phone.

Lt. Col. Tom Bryant, a spokesman for Army Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg confirmed that Atwater is an Army Sergeant First Class in the elite Green Berets, assigned as an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Ft. Bragg, where he is a member of the Special Forces Engineers.

Bryant told Reuters on Monday Atwater is an engineering and demolitions expert, and in that role would be "comfortable" with explosives, although he did not know whether he would have had explosives on his trip back home to Midland.

"I can't say if that might have been required," Bryant said.

Bryant confirmed that Atwater recently returned from deployment to Afghanistan. A notice in the Odessa American newspaper in March of 2010 said at that time Atwater was preparing for his third deployment to Afghanistan.

Bryant said Atwater's arrest had surprised military personnel at Ft. Bragg.

"We in the Special Operations Command take pride in upholding the highest standards. The entire team is disappointed," Bryant said.

The Army is cooperating with the FBI and local authorities in Texas, and he said military punishment is also possible for Atwater, regardless of the outcome of the federal case.
wmaousley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 06:09   #2
Pete
Quiet Professional
 
Pete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Fayetteville
Posts: 13,080
Boneheads

Boneheads do slip through the cracks every now and again.
Pete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 06:14   #3
greenberetTFS
Quiet Professional (RIP)
 
greenberetTFS's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Carriere,Ms.
Posts: 6,922
Question Anyone know this guy?..........

He's apparently on active duty,anyone know him personally..........

Big Teddy
__________________
I believe that SF is a 'calling' - not too different from the calling missionaries I know received. I knew instantly that it was for me, and that I would do all I could to achieve it. Most others I know in SF experienced something similar. If, as you say, you HAVE searched and read, and you do not KNOW if this is the path for you --- it is not....
Zonie Diver

SF is a calling and it requires commitment and dedication that the uninitiated will never understand......
Jack Moroney

SFA M-2527, Chapter XXXVII
greenberetTFS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 06:19   #4
ddoering
Quiet Professional
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,511
What, you guys don't keep a pack of M112 in your carry on bag for emergencies?

I imagine Ernie T has been getting phone calls.....
ddoering is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 06:52   #5
Streck-Fu
Area Commander
 
Streck-Fu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 2,086
Quote:
"military grade explosives wrapping"
I wonder if he had some mylar stuffed in a pocket.
__________________
Daniel
GM1 USNR (RET)

Si vis pacem, para bellum
Streck-Fu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 07:25   #6
Electron
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 129
Maybe he figured he might need it just in case. I'm curious to see his explanation.
Electron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 07:28   #7
Utah Bob
Quiet Professional
 
Utah Bob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: 11 miles from Dove Creek, Colorady
Posts: 3,924
Thumbs down Idiot!

I was praying he wouldn't turn out to be an 18c. Dumbass!
__________________
"...But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive."
Shakespeare - Henry V
Lazy Bob Ranch
Utah Bob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 13:43   #8
Electron
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 129
Double Whammy

After the civilians are done with him, he still has the Army to deal with. He'll be busy for the next few years with this one.
Electron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 15:01   #9
glebo
Quiet Professional
 
glebo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Hope Mills, NC
Posts: 2,757
He...and his chain of command. What a way to start the new year
__________________
Out of all the places I've been, this is one of'em....
glebo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 16:24   #10
caveman
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 172
In his defense, I forgot I'd left a kershaw blur in my pack when I came home from deployment. I used the same bag to go on leave and had the knife confiscated by TSA. That's pretty much the same thing.
__________________
Nobody said it would be easy, they said it would be worth it.
caveman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 16:31   #11
Eagle5US
Quiet Professional
 
Eagle5US's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,496
Smoke grenade a week earlier...

News is now recounting that he was stopped at Fayetteville Airport on 24 Dec and detained / admonished for having a SMOKE GRENADE in his bag (same bag). 18C says he had "forgotten" about the smoke grenade...then "forget" to tell the FBI investigators about the 24 Dec incident.

That being said...you would have thought that the C4 would have been caught THEN

This whole thing is full of FAIL
__________________
Primum non Nocere
"I have hung out in dangerous places a lot over the years, from combat zones to biker bars, and it is the weak, the unaware, or those looking for it, that usually find trouble.

Ain't no one getting out of this world alive. All you can do is try to have some choice in the way you go. Prepare yourself (and your affairs), and when your number is up, die on your feet fighting rather than on your knees. And make the SOBs pay dearly."
The Reaper-3 Sep 04
Eagle5US is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 16:42   #12
Paslode
Area Commander
 
Paslode's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Occupied Wokeville
Posts: 4,629
Quote:
Originally Posted by caveman View Post
In his defense, I forgot I'd left a kershaw blur in my pack when I came home from deployment. I used the same bag to go on leave and had the knife confiscated by TSA. That's pretty much the same thing.
The big difference is your item doesn't fall within NFA Law, BATFE scrutiny and you can't bring down a plane with a knife which C4 does and .MIL Smokes may as well.
__________________
Quote:
When a man dies, if nothing is written, he is soon forgotten.
Paslode is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 16:49   #13
Hammock
SF Candidate
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: back home
Posts: 62
update

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/0...osives-010312/

MIDLAND, Texas — A soldier accused of bringing explosives into an airport in his carry-on bag may have flown halfway across the country with them the week before, according to what he told investigators in court documents.

Sgt. Trey Scott Atwater, 30, of Hope Mills, N.C., waived his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court, said Daryl Fields, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in West Texas. Authorities say Atwater went through a security checkpoint Saturday at Midland International Airport with C-4, a powerful explosive.

He has been charged with trying to bring explosives onto an airplane, which carries a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence. His attorney, Jason Leach, declined to comment on the case.

Atwater, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., told the FBI he is a demolitions expert who returned from his third deployment to Afghanistan in April, according to court documents. He said his Army special forces team always carried at least two blocks of C-4, but he didn’t know any explosives were in his bag when he returned to the U.S.

He said he didn’t see any explosives in the main compartment of the bag when he packed for his trip to Texas. The bag had been in his garage and hadn’t been used since he returned from overseas, according to court documents.

Atwater was detained at the Fayetteville, N.C., airport on Dec. 24 when security agents found a military smoke grenade in his carry-on bag, according to court documents. The documents don’t say whether officials now suspect C-4 may have been in his bag then but was missed during additional screening, or whether the C-4 was found in the same bag as the grenade, although a week later and at a different airport.

After the grenade was confiscated, Atwater was “admonished” and allowed to continue on to Texas, the documents said. He was stopped at the Midland airport Saturday, when he and his family were heading home. A TSA agent spotted a suspicious item in Atwater’s carry-on bag during screening, and a police bomb squad identified that as C-4.

The FBI didn’t find out about the grenade incident until being informed by the TSA after Atwater’s arrest in Midland.

“When I asked him about the December 24 Fayetteville incident after TSA informed me of it, Atwater acknowledged that it had occurred, but said he had forgotten to mention it to us during our initial interview,” the FBI agent wrote in the affidavit filed in the case.

The Transportation Security Administration did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday.

No one answered the door Tuesday at the home of Atwater’s parents in a quiet middle-class neighborhood in Midland, about 320 miles west of Dallas. An American flag between the two garage doors fluttered in the breeze. Relatives have not spoken publicly since his arrest or returned multiple phone messages requesting comment.

A neighbor who lives two doors down, Pam Moore, 55, said she watched Atwater grow up. She said he was a “wonderful kid” who played high school football.

“We were real proud of him when he joined the military,” Moore said. “I feel sorry that he got caught up in this. ... I just hope everything works out for him. I really do.”
Hammock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 17:19   #14
kgoerz
Quiet Professional
 
kgoerz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: NC for now
Posts: 2,418
He is either stockpiling and finally got caught. Or somebody played a very bad joke on him.
__________________
Sounds like a s#*t sandwhich, but I'll fight anyone, I'm in.
kgoerz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-03-2012, 17:53   #15
lindy
Guerrilla Chief
 
lindy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Ft Benning
Posts: 707
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paslode View Post
...you can't bring down a plane with a knife...
__________________
"I see that you notice that I wear glasses. Well, it was to be. I've not only grown old and gray, I've become almost blind in the service of my country." - General George Washington

"There are times in your life you'll be required to perform an exceedingly difficult task to the best of your ability, regardless of your perceived capability. Mental toughness is what will carry the day during these times. In other words, you suck it up and do what you have to do." - Razor
lindy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:12.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies