Grunts' Gear Is Low Tech, High Tech and Too Heavy

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, February 7, 2003 | ANTONIO REGALADO

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Great Topic!

The first WSJ article by ANTONIO REGALADO is simplistic and riddled with errors and irrelevant remarks,

- Freeze dried foods? MRE's contain few freeze dried components.

- Three color desert camo uniforms replace the Gulf War "Chocolate Chip" camo pattern. So what? Big deal!

- G.I. Canteen replaced by a pack mounted water "bladder system"? How dumb! The good old 1 quart canteen with a cover, cup, stove base and trioximine fuel tablets works fine. Beats the heck out of all the fragile and heavy backpack stoves and mess kits one sees at the camping stores.

The second WSJ article referencing the Master Sargent was much better. I'm just a hunter, fisherman and camper, but here's my observations about military field gear and what I use when stomping around the woods chasing turkeys, ducks and geese.

MRE's are -way- to heavy for a person on foot. They are ridiculously heavy. Keep the main meal and lose all the cardboard packaging. Drop all the veggie and pasta side dishes. Keep the crackers, jelly and the peanut butter. The catalytic heaters are neat, but the old canteen cup and trioximine fuel tablets work fine. MRE's are OK for armored or helicopter troops but too heavy for ground pounders. Foot soldiers need freeze dried meat dishes and high carb ready to eat snacks. Veggies and pasta only add weight to your pack and to your waistline.

The GI A.L.I.C.E. pack system is too heavy also, especially with the pack frame which is needed for any load over twenty pounds. A modern internal frame pack is lighter and more comfortable with a 40 pound load. It also is much more stable. I don't know much about the M.O.L.L.E. system but it looks like some flimsy commercial stuff passed on by a "favorite son" contractor.

The battery thing is a point well taken. Batteries will always fail and the correct size battery will never be available when you really really need them. Using more than one or two types of baterries is a logistical nightmare. Fuel cells are an up and comming technology that may have some merit.

Lastly one of the lessons learned from Afganistan was that most of our troops are twenty pounds overweight. In mountainous terrain or in the desert all those extra pounds become a real liability. Most of the Brit's, and our SEALS thrived in Afganistan while our "Mountain" troops and Airborne fared less well. Diet and training are essential to fit troops.

[Travis McGee]

Roger the radio batteries. The field radio is by far the most important weapon the grunt has; it can bring down supporting arms, air strikes, and a ride home.

[Travis McGee]

Face and butt? Never mind.

[Squantos]

LOL.....I knew my post about your book jacket picture would come back to haunt me .....8o)

Stay Safe Bro !!!

[Travis McGee]

Did you ever hang out around any SAS or SBS?

Those boys are really poop obsessive. They literally pack out their poop. I always thought that was going over board.

[Squantos]

On Cyprus and in Belize we did some demo range work togeather but never any work in the field. Most of their work involved hides and piss'bottles and poop bags alledgedly cut down on ability to track and detect their hides.

If one is movin and scootin I am of the opinion that such additional precautions are moot.

Stay Safe !

[Saturnalia]

What, no thermoptic camoflague and female cyborg assassins?

[Travis McGee]

I could see doint it in certain very rare situations, say if I was hiding near a base for a few days and dogs would be around.

But the Brits do it ALL the time! Even in low-threat envronments!

Must go back to wierd potty training.

[harpseal]

Some of the gentlemen from the Studies and operations group that were going into Laos for a relatively long period of time did pack out the poop etc. A punji pit makes a good place to get rid of same. As long as the cover appears undisturbed they will not generally go snooping into it. At least that was the scuttlebutt from SOG.

[Squantos]

I have found of the years that if spec ops is doing it .....it is for a good reason. I'll trust that ya'll know that better than me :o)

Stay Safe !!

[river rat]

"Those boys are really poop obsessive"

That was one distinct advantage of the old "C" rations over MREs...

On "C" rats....everyone's poop could pass for rabbit pellets....small, tight, hard and "neat".....

Semper Fi

[Squantos]

My "C" rats and "timing" memories were:

Cheese = Stop

John Wayne Bar = Go

Peaches and pound cake diet was a mother though :o)..........Stay Safe !

[PatrioticAmerican]

"Yes damnit -- I said COMPASS... I'm an OLD fart
"

Not old, just smart.

GPS fails, a compass doesn't.
GPS takes time, a compass doesn't.
GPS requires batteries, a compass doesn't.
GPS breaks, a compass rarely does.
GPS weights up to ten ounces, a compass two.
GPS provides precise location quickly, so does a compass using field craft.
GPS is better at quickly determining location, so does a good warrior with a compass who knows field craft.
GPS relies on Schriever AFB, a compass doesn't.
GPS is Air Force, a compass is from God.
GPS satellites can be turned off, the planet has defenses.
GPS has internal maps, which is cool, but good warrior knows his AO...and how to use his compass.

just my 2 cents.

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[river rat]

To a great extent - I agree..
That was then (60's)-- this is now (03)..
While not giving up the tried and true compass --- I do like to grasp functional new technology to by breast....
Especially since I don't care about weight and there is no fatal risk if device fails -- and no one is shooting at me.

I wouldn't go into the boonies or on the water NOW - without my Garmin eTrek Vista... AND my mechancal compass...

WITH GPS
1. You don't need to be able to see identifiable landmarks to determine your exact position. EXACT to within 3 meters! It TOTAL darkness with ZERO visibility!
2. The new GPS devices - with 12 satelites are FAST... needing only seconds to secure registration.
3. My GPS also has a built in electronic compass..
4. MY GPS also has a barometric altimeter built in..
5. Weight, just over 5oz ---
6. Waterproof and FLOATS

My little black box, slide out mirror and compass is with me..... BUT - Garmin is the there too.

Semper Fi

[Future Snake Eater]

I attached a small velcro dot to the under side of my hats bill and when I wasn't in tactical mode and needed a headlamp for hands on tasks that little light was just the ticket.

That's a terrific idea! I'll implement that one immediately! Thanks!

[Squantos]

Make sure ya put the loop part (soft) on the light part and the hook part (stiff) on the underside of yer boonie hat or just inside the edge of yer PSAGT. Also look into the newer Photon III versions that have a "stealth" option a small pipe or collar around the light so it is directional and can't be seen from the sides.

The newer ones have a micro processor that allows many differing modes of light. We have used the IR versions in different blink mode speeds to ID each other in buildings during exercises. Think out the threat at hand before ya do that of course.

Also when you add or remove the Photon III twist or spin the light off the bill of the hat as a direct "pull" will open the battery back.

Mine rides on a piece of 550 cord that I use as a neck lanyard. The 550 cord is knoted with a figure 8 knot on each end and I then connect them togeather with 2 O-rings from a standard scuba tank. That way I don't lose my head when exiting transport or hit a wait a minute vine. Very durable for a Photon and can remain on the lanyard to attach to the spot on the underside of a boonie hat.

Just think it thru and you'll see the possibilities and different colors that are available.

Also can be used like a IR chemlight and spun at the end of the neck lanyard to make a big circle to signal NOD/NVG equipped vehicles or troops.......again with care for the situation encountered of course .....but you know that by now eh !

Stay Safe !

[Natural Law]

There appears to be some misunderstanding, grunts do not actually fight with full gear. Nearly every combat activity is prefaced with two phrases; drop your gear and lock and load!

The big problem with that is REMFs looting your shit!

11B40!

[Natural Law]

There may be some "gender norming" of physical fitness standards in the Army, but not in deployed TOE units.