thedrifter
08-10-03, 06:52 AM
Marines redy to issue new, improved helmets
By Otto Kreisher
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
2:11 p.m., August 7, 2003
WASHINGTON – The Marine Corps soon will be getting a new version of one of the most essential, but perhaps least liked, part of their combat gear – the helmet.
In September, the Marine Corps will start issuing to Marines at Camp Pendleton and elsewhere a helmet that is half-pound lighter than the current Kevlar helmet, but provides better protection and a more comfortable and more secure fit.
This is the latest version of a piece of equipment that has stirred a love-hate relationship since U.S. troops got the steel soup-bowl shaped helmet in World War I. That was replaced by the larger and heavier "steel pot" early in World War II.
Generations of troops complained about the weight and heat of the helmets. But they saved thousands of lives by deflecting artillery shrapnel or bullets.
The World War II model was replaced in the early 1980s by the current Kevlar "brain bucket," which looks a lot like the familiar World War II German army helmet, with an extension to cover the ears and back of the neck.
Many older warriors lamented the change, because the new helmet was heavier and did not have the utility of the steel pot, which could be used as a washbasin or a cooking pot if the separate liner was removed.
But over the last 20 years, Marines and soldiers have complained about more fundamental problems in combat and field training. A recurrent gripe was that the high collar of the body armor hit the back edge of the helmet, pushing it over the eyes in some positions, particularly when prone.
The Marines' new helmet looks just like the current one and also is made of Kevlar. Because of improved technology, it weighs just over three pounds, about eight ounces less than the current helmet, but provides improved protection from shrapnel and small arms rounds. It also gives 40 percent better impact protection, for parachute jumps or vehicle incidents.
The key improvement is in the four-point retention strap and internal padding that will make the new helmet more stable and more comfortable, said Alexander Papadopoulos, the project officer at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.
Instead of the current single strap, the new retention system has straps coming from in front of and behind the ears that join together at a chin strap similar to the current model.
The new helmet was tested extensively at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, Calif., and at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marines favored it overwhelmingly, Papadopoulos said.
The Army, meanwhile, is supplying special operations troops and some paratroopers a new helmet that has the four-point retention system and covers less of the ears and the back of the neck. The new Army helmet also integrates various radio earphones and microphones.
The Marines also tested the Army model, but preferred the added protection of their version, Papadopoulos said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20030807-1411-cnshelmet.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
By Otto Kreisher
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
2:11 p.m., August 7, 2003
WASHINGTON – The Marine Corps soon will be getting a new version of one of the most essential, but perhaps least liked, part of their combat gear – the helmet.
In September, the Marine Corps will start issuing to Marines at Camp Pendleton and elsewhere a helmet that is half-pound lighter than the current Kevlar helmet, but provides better protection and a more comfortable and more secure fit.
This is the latest version of a piece of equipment that has stirred a love-hate relationship since U.S. troops got the steel soup-bowl shaped helmet in World War I. That was replaced by the larger and heavier "steel pot" early in World War II.
Generations of troops complained about the weight and heat of the helmets. But they saved thousands of lives by deflecting artillery shrapnel or bullets.
The World War II model was replaced in the early 1980s by the current Kevlar "brain bucket," which looks a lot like the familiar World War II German army helmet, with an extension to cover the ears and back of the neck.
Many older warriors lamented the change, because the new helmet was heavier and did not have the utility of the steel pot, which could be used as a washbasin or a cooking pot if the separate liner was removed.
But over the last 20 years, Marines and soldiers have complained about more fundamental problems in combat and field training. A recurrent gripe was that the high collar of the body armor hit the back edge of the helmet, pushing it over the eyes in some positions, particularly when prone.
The Marines' new helmet looks just like the current one and also is made of Kevlar. Because of improved technology, it weighs just over three pounds, about eight ounces less than the current helmet, but provides improved protection from shrapnel and small arms rounds. It also gives 40 percent better impact protection, for parachute jumps or vehicle incidents.
The key improvement is in the four-point retention strap and internal padding that will make the new helmet more stable and more comfortable, said Alexander Papadopoulos, the project officer at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va.
Instead of the current single strap, the new retention system has straps coming from in front of and behind the ears that join together at a chin strap similar to the current model.
The new helmet was tested extensively at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, Calif., and at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marines favored it overwhelmingly, Papadopoulos said.
The Army, meanwhile, is supplying special operations troops and some paratroopers a new helmet that has the four-point retention system and covers less of the ears and the back of the neck. The new Army helmet also integrates various radio earphones and microphones.
The Marines also tested the Army model, but preferred the added protection of their version, Papadopoulos said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20030807-1411-cnshelmet.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: