By Emelie Rutherford
A unique Marine Corps program is working with Raytheon [RTN] to continually improve the gear troops wear in theater as it plugs away at the somewhat-elusive goal of lightening Marines’ loads.
The Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad (MERS) office integrates and modifies equipment Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) program managers buy for infantry rifle squads to wear and carry.
And that equipment has changed significantly since Marines deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11 terrorist attacks, MERS Program Manager Mark Richter told reporters at the Gruntworks Squad Integration Facility in northern Virginia.
“After eight years, there’s been a lot of changes in our equipment,” he said in August, standing in front of two combat-outfitted Marine Corps sergeants, one dressed in the equipment of today and the other outfitted in 2001 gear. “Almost every item that he’s wearing representative 2001 has now changed by 2009.”
That new equipment includes distributed-weight Modular Tactical Vests with Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI) plates, along with lightweight helmets and flame-resistant clothing. On tables near the two sergeants sat prototypes of items including a Sensor Integrated Modular Protection helmet Raytheon is working on with MARCORSYSCOM.
Richter emphasized the gear of today is more capable. For example, a helmet now can thwart an AK-47 rifle shot that the 2001 version could not stop. Yet the actual weight has not dropped.
When the two sergeants stood on a scale, a rough calculation showed the Marine of today is carrying more weight than his 2001 predecessor: 80 pounds as opposed to 43 pounds.
The Marine Corps has struggled with lightening the load of gear, including personal-protective equipment and ammunition, as researchers work to develop lighter composite materials.
“Looking at new technologies for material properties that weigh less, on the ballistic side is where a majority of our weight comes in, in the plates,” Richter told Defense Daily. “That’s what we’re waiting on some breakthroughs in that type of technology.”
A Naval Research Advisory Committee (NRAC) report on “lightening the load” in September 2007 called for MARCORSYSCOM to recognize the rifle squad as a system and “create effective squad-as-a-system systems engineering capability.” In November 2007 the Gruntworks facility was established in a Stafford, Va., office building not far from Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Richter said MERS approaches the load-lightening challenge two ways: by integrating and modularizing gear, and by using ergonomic and human-factors engineering to distribute weight on troops’ bodies to reduce physical stress.
And that integration can be for varied size gear, such as combining a laser pointer and flashlight into one. Efforts to lower the weight of batteries can include modularizing them to suit multiple purposes and using more rechargeable batteries, he said.
“We look at the placement of the gear to help in the human factors and ergonomics areas,” he said. “You can wear heavier weight, but if you’re wearing it in the right places it’s less noticeable.”
For example, newer vests distribute weight so troops use body parts such as their hips to support them, thus decreasing strain on shoulders.
MERS works with requirements-setters at Marine Corps Combat Development Command. It also keeps on top of work of scientists at the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), including gear-carrying robots.
The NRAC study recommended offloading weight from the squad to mobility platforms, Richter noted.
MERS works to identify needed changes to equipment in varied ways, including computer modeling, live-fire range testing, and simulated confrontations with Iraqis in a section of the Gruntworks facility made to look like a cluster of Iraqi buildings.
Raytheon is on contract to assist MERS, and provides as-needed engineering support for the Gruntworks facility.