Weight of back packed gear study
Someone, I cannot recall i.d. or story title to relook up, had a series started within past two weeks dealing with the weight of a solider's back pack carried gear in today's modern settings vs. in past wars.
Assuming this recollection is broadly in the ball park, my late Dad was in WW I (enlisted age 14, mustered out at age 16) as a Corporal of Infantry, old 31st Dixie Division. He told me his back pack and self carried kit weighed around 90 pounds, which included a pup tent or shelter.
Hope this helps whoever is collecting such data.
Not quite a timeless issue
It's interesting about the weight issue, especially in our present conflicts. Most of the concern in the past has been about the 'survival' gear - food, clothing, shoes, soap, tents, etc., that the soldier had to haul around on a daily basis to keep himself alive and healthy. When the time for fighting came, most of that load was shed and he carried only ammunition.
Now it seems to be the opposite. We just don't have that many soldiers who move primarily by foot over great distances any longer. Now, 'survival' gear is mostly stowed somewhere, while 'fighting' gear is the burden that saps strength and mobility. Body armor, night vision devices, squad communications gear, batteries, etc., plus ammunition have increased the load for the grunt even when he is 'stripped' for action.
Our relative mobility in Afghanistan- both us vs. the enemy and operational vs. tactical - was one of the reasons why we had so little success in pursuit, tracking, or maintaining contact.
Agreed. I know of units in Afghanistan that
Quote:
Originally Posted by
William F. Owen
All true and none of this is as a product of absolute conditions or needs. Its how modern armies "choose" to behave. Soldiers are only overloaded when commanders make bad decisions, and use bad judgement.
wanted to shed vests and other impedimtia for just the reasons Eden cites. Permission denied.
Whose fault is that...
(My take is it's the units for asking; 'it is better to not ask and receive censure than ask...' But that's the modern yankee Army... ;) )
My second trip to sunny Afghanistan...
I was made to write and sign a "memo of compliance" stating that my guys would wear full kit (body armor/helmet) whenever we were "outside the wire" or suffer the consequences... which at the time meant the detachments removal from the battlefield at the very least. This came straight from an SF Battalion Commander. I was never able to find out if that dictate came to him from the CJSOTF or higher.
So, I wrote the memo, signed my name and proceeded to perjure myself to varying degrees for the rest of the deployment; depending on the nature of the misison. I imagine I would have wound up in jail or some other form of UCMJ had one of my guys gotten killed without his helmet or body armor on.
Funny, I just saw a report where a 7th Grp team sergeant got the DSC for some absolutley heroic deed in Afghanistan, conducted entirely without body armor. god love him. I don't suppose his team commander had to sign a compliance memo...