Trey Scott Atwater, the NDAA, and Fort Bragg – Did We Just Dodge a Bullet?

[Ed Jewett]

Trey Scott Atwater Released 5 Pounds of C-4 in His Carry On Bag

Posted on January 10, 2012 by willyloman

by Scott Creighton

1.25 pounds

Staff Sgt. Trey Scott Atwater, demolitions expert, unconventional warfare specialist, andmember of the 7th Special Forces Group (Task Force 373), was quietly released from custody this past Friday after attempting to board an American Eagle flight with two 2.5 lb bricks of C-4 in his carry on bag on New Year's Eve.
After doing a little research I found that the "military grade wrapping" probably reflects that these were M1112 demolitions charges or larger ones that are 11 inches long and 2 inches wide and up to 3 inches thick (1.5 inches thick per 1.25 pound block)… each. How is it possible that someone misses that much high explosive material… in their carry on bag? How is it possible that he didn't check that bag after being detained in North Carolina on Christmas Eve? How is it possible that TSA agents missed two large blocks marked as M1112 demolitions charges in such a small main compartment of his bag after finding a much smaller smoke grenade in there?

"David Counts, a federal magistrate judge in Midland, released Sgt. 1st Class Trey Scott Atwater on $50,000 unsecured bond, determining the Fort Bragg-based Green Beret was a low flight risk." ABC News

Atwater had been detained on Christmas Eve when he attempted to board a flight from North Carolina to Texas with a military grade smoke grenade in his carry on. The officials in North Carolina let him go on and fly after that incident. Staff Sgt. Atwater failed to mention that little mishap when being questioned by authorities (including the FBI) on New Year's Eve.

"GOP Rep. Mike Conaway, from Midland, said Thursday that FBI and Transportation Security Administration officials told his office Atwater had two 2.5-pound blocks of C4 in his luggage." ABC News

Atwater waived his pretrial hearing last week and the judge set a bond for him anyway which allowed him to be released and go back to North Carolina.
Atwater has still not told authorities where the C-4 came from officially, though it is assumed that it was in his bag when he left Afghanistan. But that would mean that the authorities in North Carolina didn't find 5 pounds of high explosives in his little carry on bag when they searched it after finding a smoke grenade in it, and that would mean that Atwater himself didn't think about looking in the bag after getting to Texas to make sure he hadn't "forgotten" anything else that might get him in trouble when he went through screening on his return trip.
Neither of those is a serious possibility. Put 5 pounds of anything in your carry on bag and see if you don't notice the extra weight. Put a 5 pound bag of sugar in your carry on bag and see if you notice it in there.
I started wondering how big a block of C-4 is because I wanted to know how easy it was for him to miss it (them) in his little carry on bag. What I found follows.
Here is a video of a demolitions expert explaining what C-4 is and it's characteristics. Below is a screen shot of the demolitions expert holding what appears to be a standard military issue C-4 demolition charge M1112. Charge M1112 has the following specifications as defined by Global Security -

"The demolition charge M112 is a rectangular block of Composition C-4 approximately 2 inches by 1.5 inches and 11 inches long, weighing 1.25 Lbs" Global Security

Let's take a look at a screen shot of the video describing characteristics of military C-4. Notice the "military grade wrapping" and the notation "M1112″ on the wrapper. Remember, when this story first came out, reporting stated that the explosives were in a "military grade wrapping".

11 inches long, 2 inches wide, 1.5 inches thick = 1.25 pounds

If we are to take Rep. Conaway at his word, then Atwater was arrested with "two 2.5-pound blocks of C4 in his luggage" which each of those two blocks would have been twice as thick as the one shown here and at least as long at 11 inches.
How is it that someone would not notice two items that large in his carry on bag weighing 5 pounds?
It's possible that Rep Conaway misstated the weight of the two and that the combined weight of the explosive material in Atwater's bag was 2.5 pounds, two blocks weighing 1.25 pounds each. That is certainly conceivable if what Atwater had in the bag was in fact two M112 charges. Or, if what the FBI told the congressman was correct, then we are talking about two sets of M1112 charges, totaling 5 pounds of high explosives.
Here's my question, how would you miss two of these large charges in your carry on bag? They were certainly not stuffed in the smaller pockets used for spare clips of ammo. These had to be in either a special compartment made for M1112 charges or the main compartment in which Atwater claims he put his children's Christmas presents. I have a hard time imagining a father and a demolitions specialist would absentmindedly pack his kids toys on top of large bricks of C-4 for a trip on a plane. After all "Composition C4 explosives are poisonous and dangerous if chewed or ingested; their detonation or burning produces poisonous fumes."
Let's hope he washes those toys before giving them to his kids.
This story just doesn't add up. The more you know about this man's history with the 7th Special Forces Group and what they have been involved with of the decades, and the more you know about the specifics of the case itself, the more you have to wonder what was going in Midland on New Year's Eve.