While stationed in Iraq as a combat engineer, Sgt. Davis operated the Buffalo Armored Vehicle. Sgt. Cameron Davis was tasked with the dangerous and difficult duty of clearing improvised explosive devises – the number one killer on the battlefield-- for his following comrades on ground military missions. As a Buffalo arm operator, Davis noticed that most IED’s were buried and the Buffalo were inefficient in retrieving them.
Sgt. Davis used his engineering and operating background to design and build a new piece of equipment called the "claw" to dig out buried IED’s. The "claw" attached to the Buffalo arm allowed the soldiers to pick up objects and IED’s just like a hand would. The claw was more efficient, weighed less, moved faster, could pick up heavier objects and allowed the combat engineers to spend less time on target in the kill zone, saving the lives of the Buffalo operators as well as soldiers on follow-on ground missions.
Davis modestly shares credit with his entire unit saying, "Every one of the soldiers in my unit including the command was extremely supportive while I was building the claw and gave me all the tools and resources I needed. A fellow soldier named Sgt. Morgan helped me assemble the claw."
Sgt. Davis’ invention was recommended to a four-star general of supply. Davis created a manual on how to build the claw so other route clearance teams could construct them and assist the manufacture of the Buffalo to possibly integrate the "claw" into its design. Sgt. Davis used brains and brawn inventing the "claw" and should be honored for the impact he made on the safety of soldiers in Iraq.