Grunts' Gear Is Low Tech, High Tech and Too Heavy

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, February 7, 2003 | ANTONIO REGALADO

[TroutStalker]

If President Bush orders an invasion of Iraq, U.S. soldiers could face a fight in the streets of Baghdad -- unlike in Desert Storm, when the battle was won by tanks and aircraft in the open desert. Such an urban war requires different skills and equipment, and far more reliance on infantry troops.

[TroutStalker]

How One Soldier's E-Mail
Changed Troops Equipment

By GREG JAFFE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Last July, a few weeks after he got back from Afghanistan, Master Sgt. Rudy Romero wrote a quick e-mail to one of his old commanding officers. "How's everything going sir? Let's get together for lunch. I know a pretty good place if you like Mexican," he began.

He followed that with three pages of advice from his tour in Afghanistan with the Army's 101st Airborne division -- everything from the best gloves to take (fleece from AutoZone) to the best socks (Gore-Tex, available in camping stores). He also told his former boss to ditch the Army-issue ammunition sacks and instead buy bags from London Bridge Trading Co.

The 37-year-old soldier figured that sooner or later his former commander would be deployed to Afghanistan and that sharing his experience might make the tour easier. Little did he know that his military version of "Hints from Heloise" would make its way to the Pentagon's top brass and inspire significant changes in the way the Army is equipping its troops for possible future battles, including Iraq.

Sgt. Romero's old boss, Maj. Frank Sturek, forwarded the note to a couple of friends in his unit. They shot it to a few of their friends, and before Sgt. Romero knew it his e-mail, written in all capital letters, had landed in the in boxes of Army Sgt. Major Jack Tilley, the Army's senior enlisted soldier, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who said he found it fascinating.

It didn't stop there. A month after he hit the "send" button, Sgt. Romero got a call from Sgt. Major Tilley telling him that the Army wanted him to go to its U.S. Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., where engineers were busily at work developing the gear that soldiers take into battle. Sgt. Romero grabbed two of his buddies at Fort Campbell, Ky., and headed out a few days later.

Once in Natick, the three were ushered into a theater, where they answered questions and spent two days meeting the 100 or so engineers responsible for designing the clothing and gadgets that soldiers wear or carry into combat. Sgt. Romero had lots of advice for the people who design the Army's tan desert boots, which troops wore in Afghanistan.

Although the boots worked just fine on the soft sands of Iraq, they fell to pieces after a couple of months in Afghanistan, where the ground is rocky. The engineers took note, and the Army is buying new boots with special composite soles that should stand up better in Central Asia.

His biggest complaint was that Army gear weighs too much. "We were easily carrying 80 lbs. Throw on the ruck [Army backpack] and you're sucking," he wrote.

Master Sgt. Rudy Romero shows Army nutritionists how he stripped a prepackaged Army meal to make it lighter.

To make their point, the three men explained how soldiers in Afghanistan consumed their Meals Ready to Eat, the plastic-wrapped all-in-one food packets that weigh about two pounds and last around three years. Before going into battle they "field stripped" the meals to cut down on their carrying weight. "We kept the high carb stuff for energy and threw out everything else," Sgt. Romero told the nutritionist responsible for developing the meals.

Based in part on his suggestions, the Army is designing a lightweight Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Ration.

The three raised another practical concern: Too many of the Army's new gadgets use different kinds of batteries, further increasing the load. Some soldiers, Sgt. Romero explained, buy commercial GPS locators from camping stores and discard their military-issue devices simply because the civilian ones use the same batteries as their night-vision goggles. The engineers, who had heard similar complaints before, said they would keep that in mind but made no promises.

Today Sgt. Romero's e-mail is still posted on several military Web sites and in a half-dozen or so Internet chat rooms. The message tells a couple of bone-chilling war stories, including one about the time a 2,000-pound, satellite-guided bomb veered off course and nearly killed his company. "It didn't go off by a sheer miracle I'm sure," he wrote.

But mostly the e-mail focuses on matters far more mundane. For example, Sgt. Romero tells his former commander not to bother with Army-issue winter gloves. They are warm and waterproof, but soldiers can't pull a rifle trigger when wearing them, which is a big problem in combat. Aviator gloves are good, he writes. Even better are the fleece gloves sold at AutoZone.

And the best munitions for clearing out a cave? "Bring lots of Thermite grenades and C-4," he suggests. His unit, not accustomed to clearing caves, never seemed to have enough.

Finally, he advises his colleagues to bring iodine tablets to purify water -- something U.S. soldiers did for decades, but his unit, unaccustomed to the rigors of war, left behind at Fort Campbell. "We've lost a lot of our needed field craft," he laments in the e-mail.

Sgt. Romero's e-mail is full of praise for the training he received before he was deployed and for the troops who fought at his side. "Soldiers did great. You can always depend on them. They are extremely brave and want to fight," he concludes. "They'll do it just like we teach them."

Write to Greg Jaffe at greg.jaffe@wsj.com

[TominPA]

If you want the real world unvarnished truth about how things work, or don't, ask the guys who have to use them to stay alive. Soldiers WILL find a way to accomplish the mission no matter what it takes. This Master Sergeant has the admiration of this retired Master Sergeant.

Thank God someone had the forsight to forward his E-Mail to those who can direct that it be taken notice of. Perhaps soldiers in the near future will reap the benifits!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

The MOLLE pack has proven to be a POS and is destined for the dung heap.

[Fee]

Here is the problem. Laptop last 2 hours from continous use, PDA 1 hour from continuous use. The displays will not work at temperatures below -4 degrees F. Wireless interface is not secure. Most commercial applications involve email, composition of email response and short access to internet for five minutes every hour during the work day. Military users need color graphics for maps, real time info for navigation and positioning. The battery and power needs will exceed the ones that exist in commercial devices. The military desire 12 to 72 hours of continuous use before resupply and operations down to -40 degrees F. By the time the commercial device is modified to meet those requirements, the size and weight will increase dramaticly. We have not even dealt with the complications of modifying commercial devices which lack secure low chance detection/interception capabilities for the battlefield environment (i.e the enemy can detect and jam many commercial wireless devices).

[Hoplite]

I have a sneaking suspicion that if the gear is lightened, tomorrow's grunts will just be loaded down with more of it.

I just seem to remember going through equipment checked before going to the field and dreading the words "You're light - take this ammo/battery/diesel engine/whatever."

Guess I just can't see an Army wherein that changes, and looking at individual loads carried by grunts since WW2 (admittedly a non-scientific enterprise usually done while drinking beers and listening to the old timers saying things like "Well, back when it was hard...") the weight of said load seems to come down to how much the soldier can carry, not based upon maintaining a parity with the capabilities or firepower of yesterday's soldiers.

[Guillermo]

Amazing, thanks for posting.

Yet another reason why totalitarian armies ultimately fail...soldiers, officers, commanders are not allowed to think and act for themselves.

[valkyrieanne]

Maybe there wouldn't be so much concern about the equipment being "heavy," if infantry physical performance norms didn't have to be dumbed down for women.

[Joe Brower]

Perhaps of interest.

[wtc911]

Although it doesn't show in the illustration you provided there is one acessory to both the current and projected infantryman's rifle that is still considered crucial, the bayonet. In spite of all the Dick Tracy - Star Wars technology the planners know that in the end it often comes down to sharp pointees at close range.

[NMFXSTC]

I am amazed at the lack of understanding in today's military!

A "Grunt" trigger puller certainly does not need a Palm Pilot or a Laptop. What he needs is decent clothes, boots, and weapons! The idea that bayonets are no longer a part of the infantry gear is nutso! What is a grunt going to do with a laptop...spam his enemy to death via email?

The article has "some" valid points...especially that urban warfare and street fighting may well be the end stage of any insertion into these hostile lands...and for that, we need well trained, basic grunt types who can rock and roll without batteries!

Give me a platoon of well trained Marines (and, by God, they ALL are!) and leave the Palm Pilots and laptops to the "Army of One"...the USMC has done it right for more than two centuries...unhinderdd, as they say, by "progres".

Semper Fi!

[Snickersnee]

The figure "eighty pounds" seems to be universal across time for a grunt's fighting weight -- (altho I know special ops troops routinely go out the door with 50% more than that.) When the redcoats got off the boats on Charlestown shore for their little ruck-march up to Lexington & Concord, their loads were the same: eighty pounds.

Most of them came back a lot lighter, of course! And faster.

[Travis McGee]

I have a sneaking suspicion that if the gear is lightened, tomorrow's grunts will just be loaded down with more of it.

Put that in the bank!

[Poohbah]

They always seem to find something new to put on a grunt.

And if they don't, the grunt will probably decide to haul some more ammo, "just in case."

[Squantos]

Saw something at Sandia labs once that was basicly a ATV w/ a just a deck style roof rack and no seat or handlebars and had a little pager sized box that a troop wore and the ATV would follow his/her exact route behind em. The distance was variable and a bawana button was on it for more ammo ect ect needs to make it catch up on command.

A ATV beast of burden that followed the troops per se....packing a existance load while the troop packed just a fighting load........Not sure how the device ever faired at the Robotics Lab there......seemed cool but the potential of all my gear being diverted with a garage opener was a bit of a concern ;o)

Stay Safe !

[Lurker]

I know I routinely left stuff in camp in order to hump extra water and extra ammo.

You can go a couple of days without food, but only a few hours without water, and running out of ammo in a firefight can lead to a very bad day, very quickly.

:

[Poohbah]

The Army's been looking at that idea since about 1990 or so. Not a bad one at that, until we can develop Starship Troopers powered armor...

[river rat]

The FACT that Master Sgt. Rudy Romero's email was viewed as "FACINATING" by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, convinces me that this clown, Shinseki, should be removed from his position as Army Chief of Staff. Our mother's sons and daughters DESERVE better....

To me, it says he lacks (among other things) ANY common sense. And his staff has been responsible for letting him remain so ill informed for so damned long....

First we have women training with men --- resulting in "dumbing down" the former requirements for men.
His approval of the "Army of One" bull shit, came.
Then giving all the Ranger cover - to improve morale!

This Clintonoid has done more damage to our Army than any enemy in the past 20 years....

Semper Fi

[river rat]

If we hadn't abandoned the Montagnards to the gently care of the Communists.... We could assign each Grunt his own 'yard to act as rear guard and to pack up resupply from a couple of clicks to the rear.

There are days when 200 rds seem too few....
One can NOT move quickly or quietly - or react with body movements fast enough, while packing heavy and bulky gear...

We did not train these kids to be burros --
They need to be given the BEST and LIGHTEST gear NECESSARY for his survival and success...

Weapon, Ammo, Water, Maps, Compass, Communications and Food -- in that order were packed for any walk in Indian Country.
Yes damnit -- I said COMPASS... I'm an OLD fart

Semper Fi

[Squantos]

ROTFLMAO.....Hey even when GPS came out I kept my Silva ranger T on my duce gear . It does really suck to be standing in a driving rain storm and see on your waterproof Garmin GPS's screen....."searching for signal".....:o)

Great Post River Rat !! Stay Safe !!