thedrifter
08-11-07, 03:08 PM
Official: New gear on the way
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2007 14:19:17 EDT
Get ready to trick out your vest.
Before Sept. 30, the Marine Corps will award a contract for the manufacture of 12 different pouches Marines attach to their gear and wear into battle to carry everything from grenades to radios to magazines full of ammunition, said the infantry combat equipment program manager for Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.
Dan Fitzgerald, a retired lieutenant colonel responsible for procuring the Corps’ combat gear, said he keeps an eye on what gear unit commanders buy for their Marines in preparation for deployment.
He said one of the most popular items being purchased for Marines with individual unit funds is the “dump pouch,” a receptacle for Marines to deposit their empty magazines once all rounds have been expended.
“We’ve never had that pouch before,” but it will certainly be one of the 12 pouches purchased before October, considering its popularity with unit commanders and its performance during a limited initial fielding to test its usefulness in urban combat, Fitzgerald said in a wide-ranging interview on the Corps’ gear priorities.
He said the Corps has not determined whether it will issue a contract for the 12 pouches or split the contract between manufacturers who specialize in one or more of the pouches SysCom likes best.
And that’s just the start. Fitzgerald said Marines can expect a number of other SysCom initiatives to come to fruition soon after the new fiscal year. The Corps will begin fielding a new barracks cover for female Marines, issue dress blue uniforms to recruits in boot camp, and make cammies that come pre-treated with insect repellent available at Marine Corps Exchanges.
There is still uncertainty over when other items may hit the fleet. For example, SysCom is “trying to work out the kinks in production” of the 205,000 combat desert jackets it purchased in May 2006, Fitzgerald said.
SysCom hasn’t set an acquisition timeline for a new combat boot to replace the one it has been issuing Marines since 2002, though Fitzgerald said he has received funding to pursue the latest footwear.
“Every piece of gear gets looked at continuously,” Fitzgerald said. “The boot we have now, it’s been a few years, and we’re looking at what’s available.”
That doesn’t mean a new boot is on the way for sure, Fitzgerald said. “There’s always new gear. You don’t improve it just for the hell of it.”
Fitzgerald said the Corps looks to spend taxpayer dollars efficiently by replacing gear only when commercially available products offer “a significant improvement” over what the Corps issues. Under this philosophy, SysCom is looking at whether it’s time for a new sleeping bag system, he said.
He hasn’t received funding to pursue a new sleeping bag, but the money will come if and when Marine Corps Combat Development Command asks for a replacement, he said.
Fitzgerald added that he plans to poll Marines in the near future to get a sense of what, if any, problems they have with the two-piece sleeping bag system and what they’d like to see in a potential replacement.
He also plans to reach out to Marines for feedback on the Flame-Resistant Operational Gear, or FROG, that began arriving in Iraq and Afghanistan in April. FROG is intended to protect Marines from exposure to flames and consists of balaclavas, gloves, and a long-sleeve shirt underneath a new cammie blouse and trouser ensemble made of self-extinguishing material that limits the risk of burn injuries.
So far, 60,000 balaclavas and gloves and 120,000 long-sleeve shirts have been fielded, but only between 8,000 and 10,000 blouse and trouser sets have found their way to deployed combat units, Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said industry is creating new flame-resistant materials so rapidly that SysCom has already updated FROG’s fabric once and testing is underway “for the next generation of FROG gear.”
Ellie
By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2007 14:19:17 EDT
Get ready to trick out your vest.
Before Sept. 30, the Marine Corps will award a contract for the manufacture of 12 different pouches Marines attach to their gear and wear into battle to carry everything from grenades to radios to magazines full of ammunition, said the infantry combat equipment program manager for Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.
Dan Fitzgerald, a retired lieutenant colonel responsible for procuring the Corps’ combat gear, said he keeps an eye on what gear unit commanders buy for their Marines in preparation for deployment.
He said one of the most popular items being purchased for Marines with individual unit funds is the “dump pouch,” a receptacle for Marines to deposit their empty magazines once all rounds have been expended.
“We’ve never had that pouch before,” but it will certainly be one of the 12 pouches purchased before October, considering its popularity with unit commanders and its performance during a limited initial fielding to test its usefulness in urban combat, Fitzgerald said in a wide-ranging interview on the Corps’ gear priorities.
He said the Corps has not determined whether it will issue a contract for the 12 pouches or split the contract between manufacturers who specialize in one or more of the pouches SysCom likes best.
And that’s just the start. Fitzgerald said Marines can expect a number of other SysCom initiatives to come to fruition soon after the new fiscal year. The Corps will begin fielding a new barracks cover for female Marines, issue dress blue uniforms to recruits in boot camp, and make cammies that come pre-treated with insect repellent available at Marine Corps Exchanges.
There is still uncertainty over when other items may hit the fleet. For example, SysCom is “trying to work out the kinks in production” of the 205,000 combat desert jackets it purchased in May 2006, Fitzgerald said.
SysCom hasn’t set an acquisition timeline for a new combat boot to replace the one it has been issuing Marines since 2002, though Fitzgerald said he has received funding to pursue the latest footwear.
“Every piece of gear gets looked at continuously,” Fitzgerald said. “The boot we have now, it’s been a few years, and we’re looking at what’s available.”
That doesn’t mean a new boot is on the way for sure, Fitzgerald said. “There’s always new gear. You don’t improve it just for the hell of it.”
Fitzgerald said the Corps looks to spend taxpayer dollars efficiently by replacing gear only when commercially available products offer “a significant improvement” over what the Corps issues. Under this philosophy, SysCom is looking at whether it’s time for a new sleeping bag system, he said.
He hasn’t received funding to pursue a new sleeping bag, but the money will come if and when Marine Corps Combat Development Command asks for a replacement, he said.
Fitzgerald added that he plans to poll Marines in the near future to get a sense of what, if any, problems they have with the two-piece sleeping bag system and what they’d like to see in a potential replacement.
He also plans to reach out to Marines for feedback on the Flame-Resistant Operational Gear, or FROG, that began arriving in Iraq and Afghanistan in April. FROG is intended to protect Marines from exposure to flames and consists of balaclavas, gloves, and a long-sleeve shirt underneath a new cammie blouse and trouser ensemble made of self-extinguishing material that limits the risk of burn injuries.
So far, 60,000 balaclavas and gloves and 120,000 long-sleeve shirts have been fielded, but only between 8,000 and 10,000 blouse and trouser sets have found their way to deployed combat units, Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said industry is creating new flame-resistant materials so rapidly that SysCom has already updated FROG’s fabric once and testing is underway “for the next generation of FROG gear.”
Ellie