General Hawk as you are well aware, Explosive Ordinance Disposal is a very dangerous MOS, when you do it for as long as Tripwire has it's not a matter of if you will get blown up, but rather when. This is a simple fact that Tripwire himself admitted to on many occasions. As you know, the time came.
On his last mission Tripwire and Owens, Cory R., codename Lightfoot, found themselves disarming what appeared to be a standard polynitroaromatic explosive device. As the two carefully disarmed the device while following all protocols to the letter, a second device was activated.
The resulting explosion took the life of Sgt. Owens. SFC Skoog was found 30 yards from the blast area with 3rd degree burns over 80% of his body. The blast also resulted in the loss of both legs above the knee, his right arm below the elbow, and his left hand at the wrist. He also suffered numerous internal injuries. Tripwire also lost his eyesight as well as his hearing. Over the last 19 months Tripwire has received 12 skin grafts and undergone 15 surgeries to repair the internal damage. Tripwire has also undergone near constant physical therapy. When we try to stop him he makes it very clear that he is not finished.
Thanks in large part to our collaboration with the British Experimental Weapons division and M.A.R.S. Industries we have been able to provide Tripwire with cybernetic enhancements to both his right arm and left hand. He is also the test subject of a new neuronet technology, when wearing his specially outfitted helmet Tripwire can "see" in several light spectrums; visible, infrared, and ultraviolet. He can also "hear" sounds far beyond the reach of the average human.
While it is true that Tripwire has refused to accept cybernetic legs, and his body has been trying to reject his cybernetic left hand, these should not be seen as weaknesses. To help offset the rejection we have retrofit the helmet with a medicinal inhaler. So far the results seem positive.
To that end, and due to the ever increasing threat caused by the growing Z menace I feel it is imperative that PFC Skoog be fully reenstated to the Active Duty Status within the Joe team. We need his knowledge to deal with what could be catastrophic disasters as our military arsenal, and more importantly, our nuclear arsenal age. We have so few qualified technicians to disarm these weapons of mass destruction that to deny service to Tripwire, our best, would be highly ill advised.
