Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tucker, right, and Spc. Pedro Ferreira examine helmet covers for the new Advanced Combat Helmet in Germersheim, Germany, on Monday. (Raymond T. Conway / S&S)
Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tucker, right, and Spc. Pedro Ferreira examine helmet covers for the new Advanced Combat Helmet in Germersheim, Germany, on Monday. (Raymond T. Conway / S&S)
Sgt. John Cooling, left, helps Pfc. Christopher Keyes adjust his new Advanced Combat Helmet in Germersheim, Germany, on Monday. The soldiers from the 29th Support Group in Kaiserslautern, Germany soon will deploy to Afghanistan. (Raymond T. Conway / S&S)
GERMERSHEIM, Germany — About 3,700 soldiers in Europe have walked out of a green warehouse building at a remote Army depot this month and come away with savings.
Those savings aren’t necessarily green, but desert camouflage. To keep troops from spending what the Army found was an average of $300 per year on equipment, the service is now issuing troops everything from improved helmets to seasonal boots. The service plans to issue the gear to every soldier headed to Afghanistan, and to as many troops as possible serving in Iraq.
“When we initially went down we didn’t have any fielding like this,” said Sgt. Carl Johnson with the 29th Support Group, based in Kaiserslautern. Johnson was on his way to Afghanistan but had previously served in Iraq. He said he could have used both cold-weather and hot-weather boots there, despite the region’s reputation as a hotbox. It rains and gets muddy in winter.
“So that definitely helps,” Johnson said of the winter-issue boots. “They’re Gore-Tex.”
The troops who lined up for gear and to get quick lessons on how to wear the new-style helmets were on the business end of the Rapid Fielding Initiative, the Army’s plan to give soldiers the gear they generally tended to buy themselves or that the Army has determined the troops need downrange.
All troops would get better helmets and boots. Troops with brigade combat teams would get the extra kit, such as grappling hooks, door rams, battle axes and fiber-optic viewers.
“None of this is rocket science, but I’ve had soldiers say to me, ‘If my feet are cold, I’m not combat effective,’” said Chuck Fick, spokesman for the Army Materiel Command Field Support Brigade-Europe.
Another Kaiserslautern soldier, Spc. Gabriel George, had already purchased a fleece jacket and gloves similar to those he picked up Monday. He was nonetheless relieved the Army decided to hand it out, too.
“It’s better to have too much than not enough,” George said. “There’s always some sucker that didn’t bring his. I’m glad about it. It’s good stuff.”
Staff Sgt. Evelyn Charles, also stationed in Kaiserslautern, said she liked the new helmets. “They’re more comfortable,” she said.
The Advanced Combat Helmet is designed to be more comfortable and less intrusive to vision than traditional Kevlar helmets.
“The padding system inside is a little bit lighter than the old Kevlar,” said Jun Siangco, who was the operations manager on site from Team Soldier, the command determining what gear is issued in the program. “And it’s more stable. It’s like a football helmet.”
Troops who don’t have the gear yet should expect to get it someday. It’s to become standard issue for troops downrange.
“This equipment will be given to all soldiers at some stage,” said Gary James, site manager of the Army Materiel Command’s Germersheim depot. “It’s basically an upgrade.”
Not all troops get the same gear, though. A headquarters staff member likely wouldn’t get the grappling hook.
“They’re looking at the soldier of the future,” James said. “Things aren’t the same for every soldier. This is an ongoing process.”
