thedrifter
10-06-06, 05:07 AM
October 05, 2006
Corps switches to pad suspension system in helmets
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
All combat helmets must be outfitted with padded suspension systems, mirroring Army efforts to reduce head injuries from blunt impacts that typically occur during roadside bomb explosions, the Marine Corps announced today.
In August, the Corps reversed its original position to stick with the so-called “sling” suspension system in its new lightweight helmets after congressional officials and civilian advocates lobbied for a change to a system of semi-soft pads they said was safer for troops encountering more blunt-force impacts to the head than ballistic hits.
In an Aug. 1 Corps-wide message, officials with Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., issued guidance giving Marines the option to use the sling suspension — which uses an adjustable leather headband and mesh barrier to keep the helmet from resting directly on a Marine’s head — or the foam pads. The sling suspension comes standard with the Corps’ lightweight helmet.
Marine officials argued that ongoing Pentagon and Marine Corps studies would find out which suspension method was best. And now they’ve found it.
“Early results of testing between the pad suspension system and the sling suspension system for Marine Corps and Army helmets indicate pads offer more protection,” SysCom stated in a Thursday release. In follow-on, congressionally mandated tests conducted this year, “the pad system demonstrated greater non-ballistic blunt impact protection. … In light of this, the Marine Corps announced that the pad suspension system is now the only authorized suspension system for Marine Corps helmets.”
So far, the Corps has purchased about 90,000 padding kits for Marines to retrofit their helmets. Leathernecks with I Marine Expeditionary Force and II MEF have already been issued about 40,000 padding kits, with roughly 50,000 more still to be distributed between those commands. SysCom has ordered an additional 50,000 padding kits to be used for the modification, with officials stating firmly that only Corps-issued kits may be used.
Those orders will be enough to outfit the 142,000 lightweight helmets issued Corps-wide, said Dan Fitzgerald, program manager for infantry combat equipment at SysCom.
“We in the Marine Corps are very open,” Fitzgerald said. “We did get the data to substantiate a change. It wasn’t knee-jerk.”
Former SysCom chief Maj. Gen. William Catto told lawmakers during a contentious congressional hearing in June he had no proof that the Corps’ sling systems left leathernecks more vulnerable than helmets with pads.
At the time, the Corps was waiting for the results of a University of Virginia-led ballistic study evaluating which system protected better against different impacts. Former Navy flight surgeon Dr. Robert Meaders told lawmakers at the June 15 hearing that the pad system offers substantially better protection against brain injury from impacts resulting from explosions such as rocket-propelled grenade attacks and roadside bomb ambushes.
Meaders — whose grandson is a Marine — heads a nonprofit organization dubbed “Operation Helmet” that has raised $1.7 million in nearly three years to buy padding kits for troops in the field who request them.
“Our goal once we got started [was] to have all service branches provide the protection for this new form of warfare that we’re facing,” Meaders said today, commending the Corps for its latest move.
Fielding the padding kits is “hopefully going to prevent an epidemic of traumatic brain injury that’s creeping up on us.”
Ellie
Corps switches to pad suspension system in helmets
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
All combat helmets must be outfitted with padded suspension systems, mirroring Army efforts to reduce head injuries from blunt impacts that typically occur during roadside bomb explosions, the Marine Corps announced today.
In August, the Corps reversed its original position to stick with the so-called “sling” suspension system in its new lightweight helmets after congressional officials and civilian advocates lobbied for a change to a system of semi-soft pads they said was safer for troops encountering more blunt-force impacts to the head than ballistic hits.
In an Aug. 1 Corps-wide message, officials with Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., issued guidance giving Marines the option to use the sling suspension — which uses an adjustable leather headband and mesh barrier to keep the helmet from resting directly on a Marine’s head — or the foam pads. The sling suspension comes standard with the Corps’ lightweight helmet.
Marine officials argued that ongoing Pentagon and Marine Corps studies would find out which suspension method was best. And now they’ve found it.
“Early results of testing between the pad suspension system and the sling suspension system for Marine Corps and Army helmets indicate pads offer more protection,” SysCom stated in a Thursday release. In follow-on, congressionally mandated tests conducted this year, “the pad system demonstrated greater non-ballistic blunt impact protection. … In light of this, the Marine Corps announced that the pad suspension system is now the only authorized suspension system for Marine Corps helmets.”
So far, the Corps has purchased about 90,000 padding kits for Marines to retrofit their helmets. Leathernecks with I Marine Expeditionary Force and II MEF have already been issued about 40,000 padding kits, with roughly 50,000 more still to be distributed between those commands. SysCom has ordered an additional 50,000 padding kits to be used for the modification, with officials stating firmly that only Corps-issued kits may be used.
Those orders will be enough to outfit the 142,000 lightweight helmets issued Corps-wide, said Dan Fitzgerald, program manager for infantry combat equipment at SysCom.
“We in the Marine Corps are very open,” Fitzgerald said. “We did get the data to substantiate a change. It wasn’t knee-jerk.”
Former SysCom chief Maj. Gen. William Catto told lawmakers during a contentious congressional hearing in June he had no proof that the Corps’ sling systems left leathernecks more vulnerable than helmets with pads.
At the time, the Corps was waiting for the results of a University of Virginia-led ballistic study evaluating which system protected better against different impacts. Former Navy flight surgeon Dr. Robert Meaders told lawmakers at the June 15 hearing that the pad system offers substantially better protection against brain injury from impacts resulting from explosions such as rocket-propelled grenade attacks and roadside bomb ambushes.
Meaders — whose grandson is a Marine — heads a nonprofit organization dubbed “Operation Helmet” that has raised $1.7 million in nearly three years to buy padding kits for troops in the field who request them.
“Our goal once we got started [was] to have all service branches provide the protection for this new form of warfare that we’re facing,” Meaders said today, commending the Corps for its latest move.
Fielding the padding kits is “hopefully going to prevent an epidemic of traumatic brain injury that’s creeping up on us.”
Ellie