Posted on May 31, 2015
Do you agree that 75 pounds of Light Weight Gear is still 75 pounds when it is on your back?
27.5K
189
95
32
32
0
It seems that the United States develops the finest tactical gear in the world. We make it lighter, stronger and more ergonomic, THEN along comes some Good Idea Fairy, with the thought that lighter more ergonomic equipment means that the Soldier can carry more stuff.
Brigadier General SLA Marshall, likely THE greatest US Military writer of all time wrote a small book titled "the Soldier's Load and the Mobility of the Nation." In it he espoused the belief that we are the only nation in the world that saddles it's troops down like pack mules, marches them all night and expects them to fight and win on arrival.
After an entire career of big heavy rucksacks full of stuff I never used after a "Movement to Daylight" I tend to agree.
What say you all?
Brigadier General SLA Marshall, likely THE greatest US Military writer of all time wrote a small book titled "the Soldier's Load and the Mobility of the Nation." In it he espoused the belief that we are the only nation in the world that saddles it's troops down like pack mules, marches them all night and expects them to fight and win on arrival.
After an entire career of big heavy rucksacks full of stuff I never used after a "Movement to Daylight" I tend to agree.
What say you all?
82nd ABN
Combat Medic
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 52
13
13
0
(2)
(0)
1LT William Clardy
If it doesn't land on my foot, SSgt Alexander Ingram, does sequence really matter?
(0)
(0)
SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
SSG Roger Ayscue, that's not actually true: http://www.answers.com/Q/Which_weighs_more_a_pound_of_gold_or_a_pound_of_feathers
Which weighs more a pound of gold or a pound of feathers
While on the face of it a pound of feathers would seem to weigh thesame as a pound of gold, this overlooks the fact that gold isuniversally weighed.
(0)
(0)
12
12
0
(1)
(0)
SGT (Join to see)
Each location and mission require its own set of gear. Most of the time you can get by with just a small hand full of items . How many times did you find you did not use most of what you carried ? And asked who made the list of items that you were carrying .
(1)
(0)
LTC Paul Labrador
CPT Ahmed Faried that's the misconception that kinghts were weighed down and couldn't move well in plate. That was based on surviving examples of plate armor that was either decorative or intended for tournaments. Pre-gunpowder field plate used on the battlefield actually only weighed around 35-50lbs depending on the guage of the steel, and since it was worn all over the body, the weight was evenly distrubuted. Compare that with a modern infantryman wearing an IOTV with all of his ammo and other gear attached...
(4)
(0)
9
9
0
I have read the book you speak of and I completely agree that we need to look at the mission at hand and pack accordingly. I am also of the mentality that we should travel light and freeze at night. We carry way too much unnecessary equipment that is "just in case" and end up hurting our soldiers in the process; both in speed and agility and in the long term with regards to injury. The army never should have made the current Ruck as big as they did. If we continue to develop larger packs people will continue to find way to fill the most capacity. Small/medium ALICE pack size is ideal, but that's just my two cents.
(9)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google