The Kagan Dunlap Show #40 - Sergeant Major Mike R. Vining - The Most Legendary Delta Force EOD Operator In History
Jan 30, 2026
Sergeant Major Mike R. Vining, retired U.S. Army legend and Delta Force’s first EOD technician, shares vivid war stories and career-defining moments. He recalls Vietnam cache destructions, joining and shaping Delta Force, the Desert One disaster, and intense combat in Grenada. He also discusses major investigations, special operations evolution, and life after a storied military career.
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Blowing Rock Island East
- Sergeant Major Mike R. Vining described loading 300 cases of C4 and 12,000 feet of detonating cord to destroy Rock Island East in Cambodia.
- He and Master Sergeant Land lit improvised time fuses under heavy pressure and barely escaped as perimeter charges and the cache detonated into a mushroom cloud.
Cooking With C4 In Vietnam
- In Vietnam Vining routinely carried up to two haversacks of C4 and cooked C-rations with small balls of C4 as his stove.
- He also carried heavy loads of magazines, water and rations while operating on-range and in tunnels.
Improvised Fusing Under Fire
- At Rock Island East they improvised by cutting and relighting time fuses with C-ration matches when priming systems ran out.
- Vining photographed the explosion from the air and later said the mushroom cloud was visible 50 miles away.
