Chemical Protective Gear
Since the first use of chlorine gas as a crude chemical weapon on the Western Front in 1916, armies have struggled to provide soldiers with effective protection from increasingly horrible chemical and biological threats. The two recent Persian Gulf Wars have proven to everyone that the threat of chemical and biological weapons is still very real, and the 82nd Airborne troopers have to be ready for it. To survive, let alone fight, in an environment that may be contaminated with persistent nerve gas, lethal aerosol viruses, or radioactive fallout is a formidable challenge. The goal is to completely surround the soldier with a portable, flexible barrier through which only sound, light, and filtered air can pass. The long-term problems of eating and eliminating bodily waste make this virtually impossible, so the practical objective is to survive long enough to complete a mission and reach a safe area where troops who have been “slimed” (exposed to chemical agents) can decontaminate themselves and their equipment. This problem has been reduced slightly, since U.S. tactical vehicles and many items of equipment are painted with a costly Chemical Agent Resistant Coating (known as “CARC” paint) that does not absorb toxic agents, and stands up to the harsh chemicals needed to decontaminate surfaces.[23]
The basic piece of nuclear/biological/chemical (NBC) protective gear is the M40 protective mask carried by every U.S. infantryman. The M40 is a silicone rubber mask that fits tightly against the face. Large binocular goggles provide good peripheral vision and can be covered with removable tinted inserts. A flexible “voice emitter” covers the mouth area (this allows the use of voice communications gear), and there is a drinking tube designed for a special canteen adapter. A replaceable filter canister screws into the left or right side, usually the opposite side from where the soldier would hold his personal weapon to aim it. The filter canisters contain layers of elements that trap the most microscopic airborne particles and droplets. This includes activated charcoal (this absorbs many toxins), treated paper and fabrics, and other components that the Army would probably rather not discuss.
Along with the mask, a rubberized fabric hood covers the soldier’s head and neck — the normal “Fritz” helmet is worn over the hood and mask. In a riot-control scenario, with simple tear (CS) gas or other irritants in use, the mask could be worn by itself, but troops expecting a significant NBC threat would normally supplement the protective mask with a complete disposable outer garment of rubberized fabric. Called a “MOPP suit” (for Mission- Oriented Protective Posture), it has a charcoal-lined inner layer, and includes over-boots and thick rubber gloves. The full MOPP ensemble is heavy and hot, but does provide a good degree of protection. Part of the MOPP outfit is a strip of chemical indicator paper wrapped around the upper arm. This strip is supposed to turn red in the presence of dangerous concentrations of nerve or blood agents. Combat units have a limited number of battery-operated hand-held Chemical Agent Monitors (CAM) used to determine the effectiveness of decontamination and the limits of a contaminated area.
Reliable detection and warning of attack by biological agents and toxins remains an urgent research priority. During Desert Storm, every American soldier and Marine who went over the berm into Iraq and Kuwait wore MOPP suits, albeit with the hoods and masks off (though nearby and ready for use). Luckily, it was actually cold and rainy during the February 1991 ground war, and most troops actually stayed warm by keeping the suits on throughout the entire “Hundred-Hour War.” However, normal summer desert conditions would probably limit wearing of the full MOPP ensemble to just a few hours at most. Clearly, more work is still needed to make the American soldier proof against the variety of NBC threats.
Personal Stowage
Besides the clothes on his back, the soldier must carry all the essentials of military life around with him. Even the Romans had the problem of carrying their “stuff.” On long marches, the legionary often carried his food (usually bread, cheese, smoked meat, and onions), clothes, and other possessions wrapped in a bundle and tied on the end of a stick, much like the fabled “hobo rig.” Today’s airborne troopers have a somewhat more difficult set of stowage and carrying problems to deal with. They must jump heavily loaded into a 130-kt/241-kph slipstream from an aircraft with everything they will need. Then, once on firm ground, they must live and fight with just what they are carrying for up to three days of operations. This is an impressive luggage design problem, one that has challenged engineers for several millennia.
The modern equivalent of the Roman stick and bag is the “rucksack,” a large backpack originally made of canvas. Current models are now composed of synthetic fabric over an aluminum frame, with a suspension system of padded webbing straps designed to support heavy loads in reasonable comfort. The official acronym for this system is “ALICE,” which stands for All-purpose, Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment. Obviously, the paratrooper cannot wear a backpack over his main parachute, so for jumping, the rucksack is strapped dangling between the jumper’s legs, secured on a length of webbing that is released just before landing to reduce the force of impact. This rather awkward arrangement requires a “chalk” of paratroopers to waddle or shuffle out to the aircraft when boarding, rather than marching.
One of the important lessons that every airborne trooper has drilled into his head early in training is the necessity of getting his weapons ready for action as soon as he hits the ground. Even before he gets out of his parachute harness, the trooper is expected to have his personal weapon locked and loaded in case a fight develops on the drop zone. Consequently, it would not do for the paratrooper to have to go fumbling through a tightly packed rucksack for a weapon and ammunition. German paratroops of World War II, using a one-point suspension harness that left their hands free, could theoretically fire their submachine gun as they descended. This rarely happened in practice. The Fallschirmjager’s individual weapons were packed in a container that was separately parachuted from the aircraft, and many troopers were killed as they struggled to retrieve and unpack their weapons. Also, the design of modern parachutes, which hold the jumper rigidly upright, along with elementary safety concerns in massed jumps, makes firing in the air impractical.
To accommodate the dual requirements of safely delivering a weapon and making it easy to get into action, the U.S. airborne community has developed a series of weapons-carrying cases. These resemble oversized padded gun cases for wrapping and packaging individual weapons to ensure they remain attached to their soldier (always on the left side) and arrive on the ground ready to shoot. Every man-portable weapon carried into battle by the airborne has at least one such case. In the event that a heavy weapon like the 60mm mortar or Javelin antitank missile system is too large to be carried in one case, it is broken into separate loads which each go into their own specially designed case. The biggest of these is the case for the Stinger man-portable surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, which is so long that you have to be at least 5’ 8”/1.73 meters tall to use it safely. In addition to its designed load, each heavy weapons case can carry a personal weapon, like the lightweight M4 version of the M16A2 combat rifle. Once on the ground, the paratrooper rapidly assembles his personal weapon, loading it with a magazine stashed in a pocket in the carrying case. Then, grabbing up his rucksack, personal weapon, and heavy weapons load (if any), he is ready to go.
Or is he? As we mentioned earlier, the last thing that a paratrooper running into a sudden firefight wants to have to do is go rummaging around, frequently in the dark, into his rucksack for a fresh ammunition magazine or grenade. Therefore, certain essential items of gear are moved out to a special harness mounting on the outside of the BDUs. Called web gear or load-bearing equipment, this is a belt with a suspenders-style set of padded straps. Using special metal clips, you can attach a variety of different bags, pouches, and other containers to the belt and straps. These include canteen pouches (usually two are carried on the belt), ammunition pouches (these hold three loaded thirty-round M16A2 5.56mm magazines and a pair of M49-series grenades), flashlights, and even holders for cellular phones. The idea is that in the event of a sudden close-combat action, the troopers would drop their heavy rucksacks and fight “light,” with the equipment on their web gear. In this way, their mobility under fire is maximized until such time as the situation has been resolved, the paratroopers can retrieve their packs, and move on to their next objective.
