special, much like the Marines and other elite forces that I have spent time with over the years. As part of the small group of personnel entrusted with forced entry onto hostile shores, they have a special trust in the minds of the National Command Authorities and the hearts of the American people. This is why you almost always see paratroopers there first when a crisis erupts overseas. It’s what they have trained to do.
Tools of the Airborne Trade
As you have probably already guessed from the previous chapters, the airborne troopers of the 82nd Airborne Division are generally thought to be the elite of America’s infantry forces. As the best of the half-dozen or so infantry divisions in U.S. service, they are equipped with the best and latest weapons and systems that allow them to ply their deadly trade. But there is more to the combat power of an airborne unit than just a count of the rifles, artillery tubes, and missile launchers. I make this statement based upon the knowledge and conviction that in infantry units, the soldiers themselves
On the plus side, well-led infantry troops are the literal definition of “presence” in both political and military terms. Air and naval power zealots may try to say that their particular instruments of war give the effects of presence, but they pale in comparison with the power of men with guns on the ground.
Infantry units have mass and cover area. They actually take, hold, and live on the ground that politicians and nations covet. It is this one characteristic that will
Infantry, therefore, is a double-edged sword; gifted with presence and flexibility, but fraught with human frailty and costs. In a democracy which values individual humans so greatly, the risks can sometimes paralyze our leaders into inaction.
However, there are things that a country can do to make infantry more capable and survivable, and these frequently revolve around the equipment that is issued to them. The United States gets mixed marks on this. Throughout American history, the Department of Defense (and its predecessor, the War Department) has frequently failed to supply the troops with adequate firearms, clothing, and sustenance. One Civil War story had the War Department buying cardboard boots, which promptly fell apart when worn! More recently, there was the Vietnam-era scandal during the initial fielding of the M16 combat rifle.[21] However, the weapons and other equipment currently supplied to today’s troopers are generally of good quality and design. Not perfect, but pretty good. Some of the items are the best of their kind in the world, particularly those involving electronic and imaging technology. Others, like boots and rations, still require some work to match those of other armies. It sometimes seems that the United States spends millions on high-technology weapons systems, but fails to put any significant funds towards keeping troops properly dry and shod in cold and wet weather.
Things are changing, though. As we head into the 21st century, the U.S. Army is finally investing serious funds to update the basic gear of the infantryman through the Force XXI program. But for the next decade or so, the troopers of the 82nd Airborne and the other infantry divisions will have to make do with versions of what is already out there. There will be some limited modernization of some systems, but things are going to be tight for a long time, given the need to balance the federal budget.
What follows is a short description of the numerous items that American infantry forces use when they operate in the field. I hope that as you read it, you will get some feeling not only for the weapons, but also for the lifestyle of the field soldier. It is decidedly different from that of Marines on ships or even the armored units of the U.S. Army. No part of our armed forces more resembles the forces that won and protected our freedoms in the 18th and 19th centuries than today’s infantry. In today’s infantry, you can still see the adaptability and toughness that won battles like Yorktown and Gettysburg. It is a tough lifestyle, more than just camping in conditions where you can shoot the other campers! You have to really want to be an infantryman, which is perhaps why they fascinate me so much.
The Soldier’s Load: Personal Infantry Equipment
Recruits should be compelled.frequently to carry a burden of up to sixty pounds and to march with the military step, since on tough campaigns they face the necessity of carrying their provisions as well as their weapons.
The only truly light infantry are those troops who go out for a day or two of patrolling and carry minimal loads (weapons and ammo, a canteen or two, some food, a blanket and waterproof sheet, etc.). Even this light load can weigh thirty to forty pounds, minimum.
To start our look at infantry equipment, it is appropriate to look at the gear that a soldier carries on his person. This can be a considerable load, and is only growing as time goes on. Such has always been the lot of the ground soldier in history, as the following example shows.
Soldiers in ancient Rome were not big men, but they routinely carried loads of sixty or eighty pounds on marches through the frozen forests of Germany or the hellish deserts of Syria. After the reforms of Marius in the 1st century BC, the Roman legionary (nicknamed “Marius’s Mule”) was the most formidable foot soldier on Earth, a position he held until the heavy cavalry of the Goths trampled the Emperor Valens and his legions at Adrianople in 378 AD. The legionary’s heavy load of personal equipment was a burden, but for centuries it made him unbeatable.
When today’s American paratrooper jumps into combat, he probably carries the heaviest average load of personal equipment of any warrior in history. Average loads of between 80 and 120 lb/36.3 and 54.4 kg are common during combat drops. Imagine carrying the equivalent of a bag of cement on your back as you try to march over a dozen miles into a combat zone! So let’s look at “the soldier’s load,” to get some idea of the challenge faced by today’s infantry.
