With the release of our newest ITS Challenge Coins today, I wanted to take the time to write an article addressing the history surrounding Challenge Coins and the rules, which still aren’t clear to many that have never had a “Coin Check” pulled on them.

Challenge Coins typically feature an organization’s insignia and are carried by their members. During a “Coin Check” they can prove membership, enhance morale or wind up costing you a round of drinks if you’ve forgotten yours at home. In keeping with the tradition of Challenge Coins heavily rooted in the military, we’ve produced our own here at ITS so that you can give them out for recognition or simply carry an awesome coin in your pocket in case you get challenged.

I recently presented an ITS Challenge Coin to everyone that attended our Inaugural Muster in the traditional way of palming it to them during a handshake. Below I’ve listed out the Challenge Coin Rules, which I’d never officially seen printed anywhere until Eric and I visited the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum a few months ago. These rules come from a laminated sheet they had displayed in their gift shop (photo below.)

Challenge Coin Rules

Note: A “Coin Check” consists of a Challenge and a Response.

Rules

• The challenge is initiated by drawing your coin, holding it in the air by whatever means possible and state, scream, shout or otherwise verbally acknowledge that you are initiating a coin check. Another, but less vocal method is to firmly place it on the bar, table, or floor (this should produce an audible noise which can be easily heard by those being challenged, but try not to leave a permanent imprint.) If you accidentally drop your coin and it makes an audible sound upon impact, then you have just “accidentally” initiated a coin check. (This is called paying the price for improper care of your coin.)
• The response consists of all those persons being challenged drawing their coin in a like manner.
• If you are challenged and are unable to properly respond, you must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and the group being challenged.
• If everyone being challenged responds in the correct manner, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for all those people they challenged.
• Failure to buy a round of drinks is a despicable crime and will require that you turn-in your Coin to the issuing agency.

When-Where

• Coin checks are permitted, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE.

Exceptions

• There are no exceptions to the rules. They apply to those clothed or unclothed. At the time of the challenge you are permitted one step and an arms reach to locate your coin. If you still cannot reach it — SORRY ABOUT THAT!

Challenge Coin History and Tradition

The story I like the best out of all the ones floating around out there, (there are quite a few and none have been proven to be the accurate account of the start of Challenge Coins) dates back to WWII when the OSS (Office of Strategic Service) was deployed to Nazi held France. Their coins were simply a local coin that acted as a bona fides during meetings to verify identity and authenticity of an OSS agent.

Specifics on the coin were examined by each party that would identify friend from foe, which prevented infiltration by a spy who might have advance knowledge of the meeting time, place and even what coin was to be presented. This helped prevent infiltration into the meeting by a spy who might have to have advance knowledge of the meeting time, place and even what coin was to be presented.

The first military unit known to have a coin was the oldest Special Forces unit in the Army, the 10th Special Forces Group. Green Berets were the only known units to have coins prior to the creation of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in 1987. Since then, the Challenge Coin tradition has spread far and wide in both the military and the private sector.

There probably isn’t a US President, or government official, today without one. I think the coolest coins I have in my collection were given to me by a Rear Admiral for getting selected as Honor Recruit in Navy Boot Camp and one given to me by Texas Governor Rick Perry at SHOT Show a few years back.

What’s Your Story?

Do you have a Challenge Coin story to share or what you’ve heard to be the origin of Challenge Coins? Share it below in the comments, as mentioned, there’s nothing that’s ever been proven to be the actual start of Challenge Coin use.

Be prepared and always carry (both a gun and your Challenge Coin!)

The continuing saga of Black Powder Red Earth comes to life in V3, which is now available thru Amazon in both hard copy and Kindle edition.

I’m really enjoying the storyline in BPRE and recently got to meet Kane Smith at the Haley Strategic Disruptive Industries course last week. Getting a chance to chat with Kane and Jon Chang was great and I could see where a lot of the storyline in BPRE came from.

If you’re unfamiliar with BPRE, it follows PMCs (Private Military Contractors) in their efforts to wage a war of ruthless intrigue and clandestine violence in the post-Iraq state using American special operations contractors. Definitely give Black Powder Red Earth a shot if you enjoy graphic novels, you won’t be able to put it down!

Something I thought was pretty cool is that the back cover features a Non-Permissive Environment Specialist Ouija Board design!

I’ve been waiting with baited breath for volume two of the Black Powder Red Earth series to drop from my friend Jon Chang and the Echelon crew. It’s now available thru Amazon in both hard copy and Kindle edition.

I really enjoyed the authenticity of the first issue in the BPRE storyline, which follows PMCs (Private Military Contractors) in their efforts to wage a war of ruthless intrigue and clandestine violence in the post-Iraq state using American special operations contractors.

If you enjoy graphic novels like I do, you should definitely give Black Powder Red Earth a look. If the dark and gritty hard-crime feel to the novel doesn’t keep you wanting more, the fantastic illustrations should do the trick.

Since first hearing of the Black Powder Red Earth Graphic Novel, I’d been wanting to read it. I’m actually a huge comic book / graphic novel fan and was stoked to meet BPRE mastermind Jon Chang recently and get a copy to check out!

Jon also put me in touch with co-storywriter and Special Operations Contractor Kane Smith, who I had the chance to interview. His Q&A below really gives some great insight into the plot development. No spoilers, I promise!

Black Powder Red Earth

I really enjoyed BPRE and the authenticity of the backstory, which is lost in many comics and graphic novels today. As mentioned, I read comics fairly often and while tales of unbelievable feats are common place, it’s refreshing to read a graphic novel like BPRE that took the time to get it right without violating OPSEC.

 2017. The nation of Iraq, mired in horrific civil war, splinters into three nations: Kurdistan, New Baghdad and Basran. Within 6 months Iranian religious, government and military proxies dominate Basran, host to over 60% of the former nation’s oil reserves.

Backed by Saudi petrodollars, the GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council) Protectorate contracts Cold Harbor, a private military corporation, to wage a war of ruthless intrigue and clandestine violence in the post-Iraq state using American special operations contractors.

2019. Now.

BPRE has a dark and gritty hard-crime feel to it that keeps the reader wanting more. I won’t spoil the Q&A below, but this is something I’d highly recommend you check out, even if you’re not a comic/graphic novel fan. There’s also a Facebook App Operational Roleplay Game that Echelon has developed to coincide with the BPRE novel.

Q&A with Kane Smith

Q: Can you give our readers a little insight into your background?

A: Sure, I spent 9 years on active duty in the Army and 3 in the National Guard. I was an infantryman and special operations medic. After the military I was looking for a way to pay for college and ended up applying at Blackwater to pay for school. My original intent was to work 6 month to a year to pay off my truck and put some money away for medical school.

After working for a while and taking a hard look at the cost, time and pay off I decided to skip med school and go into business. I finished my under grad in pre-med and now am in the middle of an Executive MBA program at Harvard. I have been doing Special Operations Contracting since 2005 and have worked as an independent contractor for several companies. I still take contracts, which are mixed in with another oil and gas consulting business I run.

Q: What was your inspiration for BPRE?

A: Most of the plot for BPRE was based off of vignettes from my experiences in the Middle East; either contracting or military. The main characters, Grinch and Token, are actually based off myself and a friend (who’s now deceased). The other characters are amalgamations of 2 or more people.

One of the biggest challenges was keeping things authentic without compromising our non-disclosure agreements and/or things that could be detrimental to the troops and U.S. Government.

Our collaboration started as a dramatized history of contracting in Iraq. At the time we were first introduced, Jon had been developing BPRE with his company Echelon Software, as a hard sci-fi story about proxy wars fought by contractors in the near future. After some discussion we decided to fold the two projects into one, trying to retain the best of both.

This allowed us to create a work of speculative fiction that capitalized on my direct experiences in theater and deeper strategic insights Chang had gleaned on the region from doing a variety of think-tank and strategic consulting work for US Oil + Gas Companies.

Q: How important was realism and authenticity in the BPRE story line?

A: Very important, everything in the BPRE world is real. The characters are amalgamations of real people; the technology is real; even the background story, designed by Chang 3+ years ago, is starting to become a reality (see Erik Prince’s new proxy army in UAE).

With the exception of some of the brutal gunfights and the outright executions, it’s the closest thing to what’s happened to date and what’s coming next that you will find. We spent enormous amounts of time and energy to research and detail a back-story that was consistent with what’s going on today and what was a natural progression of events from my day-to-day in the field.

When the time came to produce the graphic novel, we had already completed more than half dozen photo shoots at simulated Iraqi training sites in the US with a variety of former SOF guys playing the parts of both aggressors and friendlies. By this time I had also captured hundreds of photos (in Iraq proper) of the exact locations in the stories to provide the artist, Josh Taylor, with the best possible reference to create the renderings in the books.

Q: Did you consult with prior and past team members when writing the story line? I can imagine putting together as much detail as you did took some serious work.

A: To keep us honest, I brought in dozens of my military and contractor friends to consult on the project. As I said before, every story in the series actually happened to myself or someone I know.

Q: BPRE had a great dark and gritty hard-crime feel to it, was this planned from the beginning?

A: I don’t know if it was so much planned as just reality. We simply created a slight deviation off of real life and the story kind of told itself.

For those readers who haven’t deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, it’s hard to accurately convey what its like there. The massive corruption and lawlessness is really hard for an American to truly grasp.

I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the brutal reality of a war torn country with billions of dollars in resources that people would do ANYTHING to get at.

Q: Where do you see BPRE going and what audience was it designed to cater towards?

A: I have to be honest with this one. I have no idea. First of all Chang does all the marketing and press stuff. I got on this project just because it was fun and there really wasn’t anything like it out there. There is a whole counter culture in the PMC world that doesn’t really get any press. Before September 2007, I don’t think most of America could tell you what a military contractor was or what Blackwater was (unless you count some really bad press in New Orleans).

I think this world and story is very compelling and just makes a good read. I felt it was enough to tell the story, put the product out there and see what happens. Since we started this specific narrative, we’ve had people approaching us to develop the story into a feature film or mini-series. I think at this point we’re just going to see what gets the most traction and follow it where it goes. I’m just happy to see BPRE get released and that people are enjoying it.

Q: What was the underlying theme you were trying to aim for in BPRE?

A: We were trying to capture the realities of being a long term Special Operations Contractor caught up in the business for years and having to face some difficult choices about ethics, life, and the reality of a very brutal world. Our basic premise was, “What would happen if Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni superpowers hired Blackwater to fight Iran for them in Iraq.”

Q: Can we expect future projects between you and the publisher, Echelon Software?

A: Absolutely, Echelon and I are working closely on several BPRE projects including video games and a novel that span this story arc and events that follow it.

Q: How about a teaser on what we’ll see in future BPRE graphic novels?

A: Violence, The first book is really setting up the situation for the next three. There are some large action sequences and some vicious betrayals coming up soon. Be sure to check out issue two for some good fun. It should be released before the end of the year.

Notes

I’d like to thank Kane Smith for the awesome interview and Jon Chang for all his help. I look forward to following the future success of BPRE and can’t wait to read the next issue!

Pick up Black Powder Red Earth on Amazon and check out the BPRE Website for more information and updates on when you can expect the next issue!

Have you read BPRE? Leave a comment below and let us know what you thought!

If you haven’t heard about Real Combat Life yet, built to provide an outlet to share combat experiences, you definitely need to head over and check it out.

Not long ago they won a $25k grant through the Pepsi Refresh Project to help out their organization, and move them closer to becoming their own non-profit organization.

We think their idea is fantastic, as writing down experiences is often a good way to make a transition to civilian life easier to handle. Real Combat Life is a great way to support our troops and allow the public a glimpse of what life in combat is like.

Head on over and contribute if you have a story to share!

Did you know that the CIA hired a magician to write a pair of tradecraft manuals for them in the early 1950s?

Magician John Mulholland wrote these once classified manuals to show CIA case officers how to secretly pass documents, hide items discretely, slip pills into enemy cocktails and even covert communication tricks. The real nuts and bolts of espionage!

Once thought to have been destroyed, one copy of each of the two declassified manuals was recovered by the author and appear in their entirety within The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.

The book is a very good read for those interested in CIA tradecraft history and also its original roots in stage magic.

For more of our book selections, check out our recommended reading list.