Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

We blow you up

O.B. reggae duo remembers time in Iran with new single, "Black Line"

Mankins and Fletcher of O.B.’s electro-reggae duo Trans_Conduit go back to war with their song “Black Line.”
Mankins and Fletcher of O.B.’s electro-reggae duo Trans_Conduit go back to war with their song “Black Line.”

Based in Ocean Beach, electronic reggae band Trans_Conduit is fronted by Osprey Recording studio and label owner Kevin Mankins, alongside Cape May Sound operator Ed Fletcher (Cubensis, Electric Waste Band).

Sponsored
Sponsored

An experience from Mankins’s service in the U.S. Navy from 2002 through 2011 inspired a new single, “Black Line,” named for the geographical boundary near the Persian Gulf coastline that his ship patrolled as part of the ongoing effort to keep nuclear materials out of Iran.

Video:

"Black Line"

...by Trans_Conduit

...by Trans_Conduit

“A lot of people have made a great deal of effort per the current and former president’s request to keep uranium out of the hands of the Ayatollah, the religious dictator of Iran,” he says, “in order to prevent the nation from getting nuclear arms, or weapons of mass destruction.”

Iran’s controversial ballistic missile tests last month happened to coincide with the single’s release. Recalling his own nautical confrontation while patrolling the Black Line aboard the U.S.S. Port Royal in January 2008, he says, “After radar picked up an unusual group of small contacts that had yet to be identified, I was called to take my post as the mount captain with two other gunners…I was the first to spot the boats with my binoculars. The IRGCN [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy] came from the horizon right at us.”

The Port Royal immediately transmitted a message identifying the ship as a U.S.S. Coalition warship transiting in accordance with international law, intending no harm.

“They came at us anyway. At this point, they were right in front of us, and I was able to identify their weapons and report them. They began to surround us. Two vessels cut in front of us and dropped large Styrofoam packages in the water. Immediately after, we heard over the radio a voice say, ‘We come at you, we blow you up.’” Mankins’s superiors denied his radio requests to “cover down,” or point weapons at IRGCN vessels.“We were even playing prerecorded messages in their own language over the loudspeakers. We swerved around the packages. I asked permission to fire a pencil flare, but once again I was denied by my chain of command. I followed orders, and to this day I am thankful. One, that there were no bombs, and two, that the situation did not escalate. Otherwise, the world would be a very different place.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Mankins and Fletcher of O.B.’s electro-reggae duo Trans_Conduit go back to war with their song “Black Line.”
Mankins and Fletcher of O.B.’s electro-reggae duo Trans_Conduit go back to war with their song “Black Line.”

Based in Ocean Beach, electronic reggae band Trans_Conduit is fronted by Osprey Recording studio and label owner Kevin Mankins, alongside Cape May Sound operator Ed Fletcher (Cubensis, Electric Waste Band).

Sponsored
Sponsored

An experience from Mankins’s service in the U.S. Navy from 2002 through 2011 inspired a new single, “Black Line,” named for the geographical boundary near the Persian Gulf coastline that his ship patrolled as part of the ongoing effort to keep nuclear materials out of Iran.

Video:

"Black Line"

...by Trans_Conduit

...by Trans_Conduit

“A lot of people have made a great deal of effort per the current and former president’s request to keep uranium out of the hands of the Ayatollah, the religious dictator of Iran,” he says, “in order to prevent the nation from getting nuclear arms, or weapons of mass destruction.”

Iran’s controversial ballistic missile tests last month happened to coincide with the single’s release. Recalling his own nautical confrontation while patrolling the Black Line aboard the U.S.S. Port Royal in January 2008, he says, “After radar picked up an unusual group of small contacts that had yet to be identified, I was called to take my post as the mount captain with two other gunners…I was the first to spot the boats with my binoculars. The IRGCN [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy] came from the horizon right at us.”

The Port Royal immediately transmitted a message identifying the ship as a U.S.S. Coalition warship transiting in accordance with international law, intending no harm.

“They came at us anyway. At this point, they were right in front of us, and I was able to identify their weapons and report them. They began to surround us. Two vessels cut in front of us and dropped large Styrofoam packages in the water. Immediately after, we heard over the radio a voice say, ‘We come at you, we blow you up.’” Mankins’s superiors denied his radio requests to “cover down,” or point weapons at IRGCN vessels.“We were even playing prerecorded messages in their own language over the loudspeakers. We swerved around the packages. I asked permission to fire a pencil flare, but once again I was denied by my chain of command. I followed orders, and to this day I am thankful. One, that there were no bombs, and two, that the situation did not escalate. Otherwise, the world would be a very different place.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.