Eden Prairie Marine Officer Makes Things Go Boom

C4, TNT and dynamite aren’t your everyday office supplies, but they can be a crucial part of a Marine engineer’s toolbox.

1st. Lt. Mitchell Leestma—an Eden Prairie native and platoon commander with Bravo Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion—got to hone his skills with explosives Wednesday. He and other Marines learned to demolish heavily armored vehicles, defensive obstacles, bridges and to handle the explosives safely.

"We don't get to use these demolitions as much," a Department of Defense article quoted Leestma. "Most of these guys haven't seen these types of charges since they were in the schoolhouse. It gave us a great opportunity to come out here in more of a learning environment instead of a tactical environment and employ those demolitions."

Click here to read more about the training.