Andrew Dutcher

Entrepreneur

The following is an clip of the summery of action for a award I received while in the military. I share it here only because it gives insight to the need for what i'm doing.

On 22 May 2012, in the execution of his duties as a vehicle crew member and team Corpsman, Hospital Corpsman Second Class Dutcher returned fire during an enemy complex ambush and saved the life of one Afghanistan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) officer in the village of Diahanna, Now Zad District, Helmand Province. Hospital Corpsman Second Class Dutcher was a member of a vehicle mounted Quick Reaction Force (QRF) responding to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Diahanna which wounded two ANCOP officers. Once on scene, Hospital Corpsman Second Class Dutcher dismounted his vehicle and provided local security and suppressive fire while another Marine cleared a path to the wounded ANCOP officers. As his unit was sweeping a safe path to the wounded officers, the enemy ambush opened fire with mortars, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG), medium machine guns, and small arms on the QRF from the west. Hospital Corpsman Second Class Dutcher returned fire with his rifle and held his position until the enemy's fire ceased and the enemy retreated. Hospital Corpsman Second Class Dutcher then continued along the cleared path to the wounded ANCOP officers and provided vital combat life saving medical care to them.

Notice only one of the two officers were saved.

The officer that lived, did not live because of anything special I provided. Anyone of the marines and or medics in my battalion could have done the same. He lived and the other died, because he was lucky enough to receive an injury that didn't kill him before I could arrive. That event, from the time of injury to the time it took before I could lay hands on them was around 10 minutes, and I was right there when it happened.

So the points I want to make are these: That man could have been saved if we had something like what I'm developing. Him and thousands more on the battlefield.

Two: Our chances of surviving a life threatening injury on the battlefield, regardless of complex ambushes, IEDs and machine gun fire, are drastically better than the chances of surviving the same life threat in a vehicle collision, or in your own home on the civilian side. Because there aren't medics that will be right there when you get hurt. You got 18 minutes to wait on average.

That's called a death sentence in the military.

Because I'm too lazy to work for something I don't care about. This, I'll fight to the death for.

I'd be lying if it said it wasn't my own. :)

Most Frustrating: Fighting every single damn day with every last bit of strength you have for one of two things: Nothing at all, or an inch of progress.

Most Rewarding: That inch of progress. Its a breath of air when your fighting to breathe. The longer you go without it the more relieving it is when you surface. That's the best way I can describe it.

I couldn't say. I've never seen that study.

I would imagine that it would be forgetting that they are entrepreneurs. I know at one point I did. It was miserable, because it guided me in a path I knew was bullshit. This is chaos. If you rely on textbook guidance at every turn, you'll end up trying to control it and that's a quick way to get put down. Sometimes it's okay to let go and use what brought you here in the first place for direction. Because while you can't control the chaos you can sure as fuck march out in front of it. Let passion be your guide at times, innovative new paths through obstacles you can't climb, and flip over some tables on your way out the door of the most recent "no". Leave chaos in your wake as it chases at your heels. Its much funner that way.

Brevity is king. Most of the time (Still learning that one)

"Some times you have to shoot some babies" -- Steve Blank

If you are not the Expert in a certain critical field, find an Expert.

Medical professional and Valor recipient with extensive casualty management experience in austere, and high threat environments. Prior 11 year Navy Corpsman extensively tested throughout four infantry deployments and over 550 ground missions, 2 years as a high threat tactical medical instructor, and currently an entrepreneur; Founder and chairman of Phantom Augments Inc.