HESCO: putting earth between you and bad guys

If you deployed to a forward area, you’ve probably seen and relied on HESCO barriers to keep bad guys from reaching out and touching you where you ate and slept. You might have even filled a few using an e-tool or your helmet, depending on how resourceful your command was or wasn’t.

My first tour in Iraq started in 2005. My Company utilized a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the middle of nowhere called the Lions Den. This tiny little spit of land no bigger than a football field was remote, isolated, and protected only by guard towers. The entirety of the perimeter was constructed out of a massive wall of HESCO barriers.

When I was moving around the FOB, I felt safe having seen these wire baskets of dirt stop blasts from rockets, small arm fire, and 120mm mortar rounds. So yeah, I have kind of a biased affinity for HESCOs.

Well us young guns weren’t the first generation of the warrior blood line to utilize these things. Actually, HESCO barriers were first used as means to protect families and properties from destruction as they faced incoming storms of the fiercest nature.

Keeps blast out, keeps blast in. Video Courtesy of @BritishArmy, 11 EOD Regiment RLC assisted Kent Police with a WW2 German bomb at the former RAF Malling site near Maidstone, making the device safe for the site’s redevelopment. pic.twitter.com/AUY946hi5R

— HESCO (@HESCOGroup) May 18, 2020

“From this need, the innovative wire-mesh gabion system, with geotextile lining and rapid deployment features was created. This innovation became the HESCO Concertainer Unit, later acknowledged as the most significant development in field fortification since WWII.”

Nowadays, HESCO’s portfolio includes border security solutions, hostile vehicle mitigation, environmental and security barriers, and ballistic resistant armor plates.

The city of Kamloops, BC are protecting critical infrastructure from floodwaters using Hesco barriers. Story credit to @KamThisWeek. #flood #BritishColumbia #Kamloops https://t.co/1l0qzwrfHF pic.twitter.com/j0vaZceDI1

— HESCO (@HESCOGroup) May 13, 2020

HESCO continues to innovate earth-filled barriers with one thing in mind: Their legacy was borne from one need to protect critical assets from harm using “rapid, reliable and robust solution[s].”