Martin Fackler
American Army officer (1933-2015)
Martin L. Fackler (1933–2015) was an American military officer, surgeon and wound ballistics expert. He served in the U.S Navy from 1960 to 1975 and in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1991. He was a field surgeon at the Naval Support Hospitals at Da Nang, Vietnam and at Yokosuka, Japan, and later a colonel in the US Army's Medical Corps. He was the founder and head of the Wound Ballistics Laboratory for the Letterman Army Institute of Research from 1981 to 1991. He was a member and leader of various organizations, among them the International Wound Ballistics Association, the French Wound Ballistics Society and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Fackler had numerous teaching appointments and was the author of over 300 publications in regards to wound ballistics, body armor, and treatment of injuries for both the military and civilian populations. He is credited with a number of contributions to the field of terminal ballistics, including:
Developing and testing improved media in which the effects of bullet wounds could be simulated. This led to the widespread acceptance of 10% ballistic gelatin for evaluating penetration and expansion of projectiles.
Establishing effects of projectile design and shape on wounding.
He hypothesized that wound depth was much more important than previously thought, and recommended ammunition that could send a bullet at least twelve inches into his ballistic gelatin.
“Martin Fackler” enters the record as american Army officer (1933-2015). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Martin, Fackler and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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