The Army has a new 4-point chinstrap being developed for its SF MICH helmet that needs to be immediately put on ALL Paratroopers on jump status NOW. We had a Soldier die last year when his helmet fell off--who would be alive today---if he had this new chinstrap.

Saying we have to wait for all our chinstraps to wear out is MURDER. This is like saying you have cars with defective breaks and not changing them until they wear out or a fatal accident takes place. An ounce of PREVENTION is better than a pound of "cure" too late.

The new chinstrap's National Stock Number (NSN) is 5895-01-476-2605 (Medium/Large) but you need to specify the chinstrap has a single rear attachment point for it to interface with the existing holes on the PASGT kevlar helmet. The MICH helmet strap for the PASGT helmet is connected at 3 points, thus it requires no drilling or new bolt/nut hardware. Manufacturer is CGF Helmets.

Cost is $13.

Another nagging problem with the current chinstrap is that during low-crawl and other individual movement techniques (IMT) the brow the helmet will dip down blinding the Soldier at a critical time when he needs to see the enemy and shoot his weapon to kill-him-before-he-gets-you. The kevlar helmet dipping down is attributed to at least 2 fatal military motor vehicle accidents. The MICH-type chinstrap will solve this problem forever.

PROBLEM #2: THE SUSPENSION AND LACK OF IMPACT PADDING

The "New" slightly improved U.S. Army issue helmet suspension is as follows:

Improved PASGT helmet Suspension
NSN 8470-01-442-2969 (sx)
-2990 (s)
-2995 (m)
-3001 (l)
-3021 (xl)

Improved Headband, PASGT Helmet
NSN 8470-01-442-1429 (s-m-l)

While the headband has velcro instead of metal clips to attach a wider headband, the fact remains that the PASGT helmet is still painful to wear resulting in lax Soldiers and particularly marines not to wear them, even in a combat zone like Afghanistan! If you are not wearing your helmet your head can be easily injured and your life ended by mundane bumps working around heavy equipment as well as enemy fire. The problem with the PASGT helmet is NOT its weight (3 pounds) but HOW ITS SUSPENDED ON THE SOLDIER'S HEAD.

In a more physical age, Americans better understood the need to physically spread loads to cushion impacts. For example, the WWI "pie plate helmet" is actually more comfortable to wear than the WWII "steel pot" helmet because it has a wider headband.

However, widening the headband does not stop the helmet from smashing against the skull after a hard impact from a parachute landing fall or vehicle accident. This is why motorcycle and bike helmets have surrounded the entire head with shock absorbing material so the inside wall of the helmet does not smash against the skull and injure it with concussion and collapse. Every U.S. Army Soldier is supposed to be wearing a kevlar PASGT or CVC helmet when operating tactical vehicles in peace or in war. Motor vehicle accidents are the number #1 cause of Soldier/marine deaths each year. If we were to properly cushion and suspend every PASGT helmet in the U.S. Army and marines we would save thousands of lives and millions of dollars.

Some have proposed throwing out the millions of PASGT helmets we have and replace them with $350 each MICH helmets (the start-over approach) which have Oregon Aero impact resistant padding and more comfortable, safe suspension.

Oregon Aero has three kits to fix this:

KLU: Fix the headband

The KLU(tm) G.I. Soldier Helmet Upgrade works with existing webbing without helmet modification and basically widens the helmet band and gives impact resistant padding.

Oregon Aero's KLU(tm) G.I. Soldier Helmet Upgrade is installed in less than 5 minutes and offers the G.I. a pain-free kevlar helmet (KLU stands for "Kevlar Liner Upgrade"). In the words of the National Guard Command Sergeant Major responsible for the helmet's first evaluation;

"The KLU(tm) G.I. Soldier Helmet Upgrade is ...a godsend to the infantry Soldier, likely the greatest invention since the P-38 can opener."

Either the Army or individual G.I.'s can purchase and install the KLU(tm) G.I. Soldier Helmet Upgrade kit. The upgrade kit works with existing helmet webbing without any helmet modification.

The one-size-fits-all KLU(tm) G.I. Soldier Helmet Upgrade is made from a patent-pending proprietary composite construction. It features improved wicking properties and shock absorption and can be machine-washed and air-dried. Oregon Aero has built a specially adapted, semi-automatic, template sewing machine to manufacture the BLU(tm) and KLU(tm) Helmet Upgrade.

BLU "Ballistic Liner Upgrade": Replace the suspension

The upgrade kit can be installed in any style ballistic helmet. Soldiers can train and perform missions with a pain-free, stable, safer helmet, thanks to Oregon Aero's BLU(tm) Soldier Helmet Upgrade Kit. Branches of the U.S. military commissioned Oregon Aero to create a helmet upgrade because of Soldiers' chronic complaints that helmets were painful, uncomfortable and unstable. The modified helmet works equally well with or without external equipment such as night vision goggles, which require a high degree of helmet stability to work properly. Military tests performed on the custom designed Helmet Upgrade revealed dramatic improvements in levels of transmitted shock loads, improving the helmet's safety. Transmitted shock loads decreased from an average of 300G's to an average of 75G's with the BLU(tm) Soldier Helmet Upgrade. (300G's is the threshold between concussion and fatality, and 75G's is below the threshold of injury, which is around 90G's).

The Upgrade wicks heat and perspiration away from the scalp, reducing heat buildup and the problem of perspiration rolling into the user's eyes. The BLU(tm) Soldier Helmet Upgrade can be machine washed and air-dried.

A patent is pending for the helmet upgrade's proprietary, composite design.

BLSS (Ballistic Liner Suspension System): Replace the chinstrap, do away with the headband and suspension

The BLSS(tm) Kit is stable, pain-free, safer, waterproof, self-wicking, positively buoyant, air permeable, reduces sound reverberation and is installed without any helmet shell modifications. The Kit includes a four-point chinstrap connected to a lateral band/harness which mounts to existing PASGT helmet holes/bolts. It has an integrated nape pad and seven highly engineered impact pads that replace the PASGT parachute impact helmet liner (PIL). The camouflage helmet cover connects to the lateral band.

Here was the challenge for Oregon Aero from the U.S. military:

Using the military's existing PASGT helmet, create a stable helmet, one that remained solidly on a Soldier's head regardless of what the Soldier is doing. The military also asked that the current chinstrap be replaced with something more effective and that the upgrade be able to be installed without any helmet modifications.

The military got what it wanted-and more. The new Oregon Aero Ballistic Liner Suspension System (BLSS(tm) Kit):

 Is always STABLE, (it uses a highly engineered pad system instead of a web system).

 Is PAIN-FREE (the visco-elastic, temperature and pressure sensitive padding system removes all pressure points).

 Is SAFER (shock transmission is reduced from 220Gs to 77Gs with top impact and from 161Gs to 88Gs with side impact).

 Is WATERPROOF (a proprietary coating application developed by Oregon Aero allows submersion to 66' and passes other requirements).

 Is AIR PERMEABLE (the same proprietary coating application permits air, but not water, to pass through).

 REDUCES HELMET SOUND REVERBERATION (auditory sense of the surrounding environment is improved).

 Is SELF-WICKING (the helmet's cooler: heat and perspiration are drawn away from the scalp and evaporate).

 Is POSITIVELY BUOYANT (so the helmet is safer in amphibious or water fording situations).

 REQUIRES NO HELMET MODIFICATION (the entire system uses the same six bolts and plates of the current issue web system).

 The Oregon Aero BLSS(tm) Kit is being evaluated in military field tests.

The helmet upgrade's breakthrough chin retention system includes a four-point chin strap/harness with an integrated nape pad. The liner upgrade includes seven individually designed and manufactured pads. These, two-part, visco-elastic foam pads are pressure and temperature sensitive and provide pain-free use, no matter how long the helmet is worn. The pads also enable the helmet to remain stable, even when the user is in a prone shooting position. Each pad goes through 27 manufacturing steps.

The padding system, developed by Oregon Aero as the Ballistic Liner Upgrade (BLU(tm) Kit), also is used in the military's Modular Integrated Communications Helmet (MICH).

THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS are still stuck wearing the PASGT helmet with the absurd and unsafe 2-point chinstrap suspension. HOW MANY MORE WILL HAVE TO DIE? At the very least for god's sake order parachute retention straps for your men and have them wear them for at least some better stability. So fucking what that you are "not Paratroopers". FUCK THAT. Do you want the goddam helmet drooping over your eyes? Wake the fuck up. Stop being a lemming victim in the Army's weak co-dependence paradise (nightmare). Stand up for yourself so you get the job done and come home alive.

The more frugal and wise option to GET ALL SOLDIERS A BETTER CHINSTRAP/SUSPENSION would be to simply retrofit Oregon Aero suspension and impact padding into every U.S. Army PASGT helmet with the MICH chinstrap (3 or 4 points) at a cost of about $100 each as the U.S. Army National Guard Light Infantry Brigades are doing:

www.oregonaero.com/p81_2001.html

Oregon Aero, Inc.
34020 Skyway Drive
Scappoose, Oregon 97056

(503) 543-7399 Fax -7199 1 (800) 888-6910

email@oregonaero.com

Also notice in order for special feces troops not to look like the "unwasheds" they wanted the MICH helmet to LOOK DIFFERENT so they reduced the size of the helmet under the "Fritz" ear overhang to ostensibly enable them to better lift their heads up in the prone. At least one Army surgeon has gone on record as saying the reduced ballistic coverage of the MICH/ACH helmet has caused the head wounds (see article on bottom of this web page) and deaths of some Soldiers in Iraq. Notice, however that if the 1st TSG (A) suggestion of retrofitting better chinstraps/suspensions had been done to ALL PASGT helmets as we proposed in 1997 and even as late as 2003, these Soldiers would be alive today. Chalk up another FUBAR to the stodgy Army bureaucracy and uncaring brass.

So, "YES" we in the 1st TSG (A) "told you so".

Not only that, WE WILL KEEP ON TELLING YOU AND ANYONE ELSE WHO GIVES A DAMN ABOUT OUR SOLDIERS AND DEFENDING FREEDOM "SO".

One last thing. Notice once we went to quasi-war after 9/11/2001, "ALL OF A SUDDEN" people realized that the PASGT helmet chinstrap and suspension stunk. WHY DIDN'T THEY NOTICE THIS BEFORE LIKE WE DID? WHAT WERE THEY DOING ALL THE YEARS PRIOR TO THAT? WERE THEY GOING TO THE FIELD?

NO.

They were spending the day mowing lawns, polishing floors, and doing silly sports PT WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DRESSED FOR WAR EVERY GODDAM DUTY DAY.

And don't doubt for one second, when the misguided occupation of Iraq is over, the weaklings will rip off all the armament, armor they can to return to the bullshit garrison lifestyle/routine A-S-A-P.

We think America should NOT be funded welfare recipients-in-uniform to spend half the day doing jogging and the other half as lawncare specialists. We should fire ALL those in the army/marines that supoport such bullshit and GET RID OF ALL THE FANCY BUILDINGS AND LAWNS they use to justify their wasting the day to be fucked up and not combat-ready. Here is how to do it:

www.geocities.com/strategicmaneuver/battleboxconcept.htm

Until we realize how dangerous the Non-Linear Battlefield (NLB) of today is, and START SPENDING EVERY WAKING MOMENT ON COMBAT SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES, we are going to continue to get our asses kicked by teenagers with a finger on the button to set off a command-detonated landmine A.K.A. a ROADSIDE BOMB. We do not call CDLMs "IEDs" thats a bureaucratic cop-out to pretend these are new threats to cover the asses of the incompetents who wshould have been studying their perofession and watching event is plasces like south Lebanon where Hezbollah used these weapons against the IDF. Maybe IDF we spent less time being snobs, wasting time in the gym and being lawn mowers we'd know more about what to do to win?

BACKGROUND

http://home.c2i.net/rrynning/pasgt.htm

The History of the PASGT Helmet

by Charles A. Simpson

The PASGT helmet grew out of a research effort initiated by the Army's Natick Research Lab in the early 1970's. The Army was interested in lightening the load carried by the infantry. Since the helmet and the flak jacket represented a fair amount of weight, it was hoped that the use of the aramid fibers might offer a solution. Somewhere along the line, the program changed into an effort to develop more a protective helmet and vest at an equivalent weight.

After determining that the kevlar technology was practical, a Natick team, led by Phil Durand, initiated a very detailed ergonomic study of helmets. Part of this study entailed creation of a detailed anthropometric database on the dimensions of the head. This data was very important since many of the problems inherent in the M-1 steel pot were the result of the fact that one size did not fit all. It was scientifically determined that three sizes were necessary ( small; medium; and large) to fit male soldiers.

The original sizing plan was changed when Congress pressured the Army into providing helmets to women. This required the creation of the extra small size. During the Persian Gulf War, a extra-large size was also manufactured. A very reliable source informs me that the extra-large size was created to accommodate the unusually large cranium of a individual senior Army general. A special production run of one thousand extra-large helmets was made at the Unicor factory. There are no plans to ever produce the extra-large again, making it an extremely rare variant.

Although the contour of the PASGT is frequently compared to the NAZI helmet, it was not deliberately modeled after the M-35. The slight similarity in contour is the result of the fact that the Germans and Natick used the same methods to determine the contour. Both relied on wound probabilities, equipment interaction studies, and the anthropometric data to establish the shape. The people at Natick do not like to hear their helmet compared to the German M-35. US helmet designers are very sensitive about this because one of the best steel helmet designs ever, the Slade #5, was rejected during WW I for looking too much like a German M-16.

The first prototype PASGT helmets were made in two materials, fiberglass and kevlar. The ballistic-resistance performance of the two materials was about the same. However, the fiberglass didn't do as well on the durability tests as the kevlar. Two hundred of each type were made for testing. These prototypes are easily identified because have the woodland camo pattern painted directly on the shell. This was done to enhance the marketability of the helmet to the army. No one ever intended to field a helmet with the camo painted directly on the shell. The prototypes were made by a small marine fiberglass moulding shop in Mass. called Geonautic, Inc.

Once the helmet was adopted, their was some controversy about what to call it. Some at Natick wanted to call it the Duramac since Durand and McManus were the two fellows most involved with the project. It was eventually decided to call it the Personal Armor System, Ground Troops Helmet, the PASGT Helmet. The term armor "system" refers to the fact that the kevlar vest is usually worn with the helmet. The current kevlar PASGT vest was designed by the same team that designed the helmet.

Shortly after the PASGT was issued to the army, one of the primary manufacturers, Gentex, Inc of Carbondale, Pa., developed a variation on the helmet that was intended as an industrial hardhat. One thousand of these were purchased by Keydril, Inc., an international oilfield drilling contractor. The hardhat version of the PASGT was not successful due to its high cost, weight, and unusually looks. Gentex withdrew it from production after the Keydril purchase.

The PASGT helmet has been widely imitated by other countries. PASGT-style helmets are currently used in Canada, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.

The PASGT will be modified in the near future by changing to a more advanced aramid fiber (Kevlar II). Kevlar II helmets can be identified by the tighter weave of the material. Experiments have been conducted with Spectra, but this material has not been successful because of severe delamination problems.

The PASGT liner and the chinstrap will also be modified. The leather portion of the liner will be widened, and the design of the clips that attach the sweatband to the webbing will be changed. The chinstrap will be changed to a three point system to improve the stability of the helmet on the head. Some of the helmets with modified chinstraps were used by the Army in Haiti. A new paratrooper liner, with better shock absorbing characteristics, is also in development.

WHO SHOULD DECIDE WHAT SOLDIER GEAR WE USE? A COUNCIL OF COLONELS OR THE LTs, SGTs, PVTS WHO CARRY THE GEAR AND WHOSE LIVES ARE IN DANGER?

The 1st Tactical Studies Group (Airborne) since 1997 has online;

offered and detailed through U.S. Army official channels; paper efforts have gone back even farther to 1981...Here's a letter from the USMC in 1989 saying suggesting things to Natick Labs is a total waste of time:

Nevertheless, 1st TSG (A) has also found, created and tested commercial, off-the-shelf and equipment modification solutions to almost every problem listed (and then some like ahumm, SOLVING THE SOLDIER'S LOAD) in the appalling recent U.S. Army Natick Afghanistan Report (which is viewable here). As we also forewarned, the u.s. marine designed "MOLLE" gear has been a COMPLETE and utter failure in Afghanistan service--even for the short time marines made a token ground appearance and fled back to their ships as the U.S. Army dodges the RPGs, mortars and AKM rounds to hunt down and kill the enemy terrorists.

The bottom line is, closed-minded and small-minded people (we know all about them, don't we?) are running the Congressionally-mandated and funded Army's Soldier Enhancement Program (SEP) which could have PREVENTED this sad state of affairs by some low-cost purchases.

Want to make a suggestion to SEP?

SEP Home Page

Make a Soldier Equipment Improvement suggestion to SEP

The Afghan power points show a number of gear problems that many of us have solved and proposed solutions through SEP and Natick channels mostly for naught. The Brits have a plastic ammo box for their M240-type medium machine guns, we do not. We could have upgraded the Kevlar helmet with a better chinstrap and suspension, offered the Nomex flyer's glove with a little insulation and in a black color, ALICE rucksacks could have synthetic frames and quick-release buckles, issued a chest binocular/NVG pouch and provided a toothbrush/shaving razor cartridge attachment point on the end of the MRE spoon years ago. However, the decision makers generally don't act on Soldier inputs. They are the lower life forms. The Afghan gear report is likely going to "whitewash" systemic failures so this is why we are calling on a Soldier board to be formed and given the money, authority and time to make Soldier gear decisions to prevent recurring failures like experienced in Afghanistan and now Iraq.

Whoever is ruining SEP should be replaced by someone who listens and ACTs on suggestions for improvement by Soldiers instead of pooh-poohing (ignoring) them with words like "dislikes". If a piece of gear doesn't work, gets left behind or gets someone killed it isn't some trivial matter.

The enemy terrorists got away from our Anaconda cordon and search operation while we were bogged down with equipment, a lot of it bad, so this is not a small matter. Details:

www.geocities.com/usarmyafghangearproblems

www.combatreform.com/realmountaindivision.htm

Solution: Soldier TA-50 Board and Subject Matter Experts in every unit

OK.

I think you see we are furious, and rightfully so. Here is THE ultimate solution.

We've just learned that its a "Council of Colonels" that meets to decide gear for us grunts for the SEP program to "type classify" (tested to "perfection" to be declared Army kosher) when it should be the lower-ranking gear gurus who are actually humping (carrying) the machine guns, rockets and mortars from every Army command representing their specific climes/places/missons. This is why a lot of our gear sucks. Most Colonels we've run into are concerned more with form than function and are not technotactically oriented and candid. SGTs, LTs and CPTs should decide on our new gear.

The expertise of the natural "gear gurus" should be tapped and have them designated as a "Master TA-50 Specialist"---an additional skill identifier (ASI). These gear experts would go to Natick Labs and be school trained on the proper fit and wear of ALL Army equipment and have field living (survival skills) taught to them so they can advise Commanders that a hot weather desert boot is NOT a mountain boot and how to properly size Soldiers for body armor so a bullet doesn't sneak by and kill them. The Army's Master TA-50 Specialists would also train the Soldiers in their companies how to wear and maintain their TA-50 as well as be pro-active about getting better gear. The Army is strangely an organization that goes "camping" yet hasn't trained itself how to "camp". Lay on top the need for combat mobility 4-7 mph which requires smart loading and constantly improved equipment, its clear that a Soldier from every Company in the Army should go to "gear school" to become a Master TA-50 Expert. To fund this we should cancel the un-needed LAV-III/Stryker deathtrap armored car purchases and upgrade superior tracked M113A3 Gavins into IAVs for the IBCTs. Call them tracked IBCTs or "Gavin Brigades".

An Army bureaucrat informs us that Company Commanders can buy with unit funds whatever gear they need for their men from the GSA Catalog and CTA 5900 (not Army "type classified" but available for purchase: "good enough" using Army funds) but this is something that's not pro-actively done and known about. Have you ever heard about this? GSA catalog is on CDs Supply Sergeants have so it takes a bit of looking when it should be on the www for all Soldiers to see.

What we need is a Soldier's Board of lower ranking gear experts who will review new gear, get it on the GSA Catalog/CTA 5900 and then publish an annual focused list throughout the Army encouraging Commanders/units/individuals to buy these items. Apparently its ok for units to fund-raise to build up a unit fund or this purpose, too so not having the money is not an obstacle. This list of authorized field gear on GSA/CTA 5900 should be placed on the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) secure web site so any Soldier can see what the Soldier Board recommends they get ASAP.

Every year, every Major Army Division (Airborne, Air Assault, Light, Mechanized, Armored etc.) and separate unit (2nd ACR, 172nd Arctic Brigade, SF, Rangers) has ITS SOLDIERS select by vote a field gear representative who will travel to Fort Benning, Georgia to decide for the rest of the Army what off-the-shelf Soldier gear to buy and what gear to develop. Every unit has at least one "gear guru" right for this job; a pro-active Soldier who studied field gear and on his own tinkers and tests what works and does not. THE CHAIN OF COMMAND DOES NOT SELECT THE GEAR BOARD SOLDIERS. Some out-of-touch Army General does NOT select some political yes-man to be on the board to keep the troops ill-equiped and "in their place". Some DA civilian with a ponytail going through perpetual mid-life crisis does NOT decide what items are bought or developed, THE SOLDIERS DECIDE. No "Council of Colonels". Its the individual Soldier's lives that are at stake not some bureaucrat in a comfy office with one retirement already under his belt longing for the good 'ole days when the equipment they had sucked and everyone liked it. What the Soldier TA-50 Board decides AUTOMATICALLY become AUTHORIZED Soldier optional wear/use items without the current kill-joy, politically correct "uniform board" having one say in their decisions. They do a great job keeping everyone miserable and without esperit de corps during garrison hours; the field Soldier's attire should be guided by FUNCTION decided by the mud-Soldiers. Each year a list of acceptible alternatives will be decided on by the Board for Soldiers to buy/use on their own option. Each year the board will decide on commensurate with the SEP budget what items will be bought/issued to enhance Soldiers immediately. And each year the board will see what industry and Natick Labs have "cooking" and provide feedback.

Battlefield Debate: An Army Surgeon Says New Helmet Doesn't Fit Iraq

Stronger, Lighter and Smaller, But Does It Cover Enough?
Military: 'Good Trade-Off'
Studying Shrapnel's Entry Point

By GREG JAFFE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

August 25, 2004; Page A1

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Earlier this year, with the insurgency in Iraq building and U.S. casualties mounting, Lt. Col. Jeff Poffenbarger, the Army's senior neurosurgeon here, became convinced the Army was making a mistake that could lead to American deaths.

The Army had begun issuing a new helmet, dubbed the Advanced Combat Helmet. Made of a new type of Kevlar, the helmet is stronger and lighter than its predecessor. But the new helmet has a critical flaw, Col. Poffenbarger contends: It is about 8% smaller than the old helmet, offering less protection on the back and side of the head.

In past wars, this might not have been a big problem. In infantry-style combat, Soldiers typically are struck in the front of the head as they charge toward the enemy. But in Iraq, where the deadliest threat is remote-detonated roadside bombs, many Soldiers are getting blasted on the sides and back of the head, says Col. Poffenbarger. In other words, they are getting hit in areas where the new helmet offers less coverage.

"I've become convinced that for this type of guerrilla fight, we are giving away coverage that we need to save lives," says Col. Poffenbarger, a 42-year-old former Green Beret.

This summer, he briefed Gen. George Casey, the top American general in Iraq, as well as a senior Army official in the Pentagon about his concerns regarding the helmet. Gen. Casey declined to comment on the matter. However, a senior defense official said the colonel's observations are raising questions about whether the Army should move forward with a helmet that may not be suited for the kind of hit-and-run insurgency it is fighting in Iraq. The marine corps has already decided not to issue the helmet to the vast majority of its forces.

Broader Struggle

The questions surrounding the new helmet reflect the broader struggle facing the Army as it tries to transform from a force built to fight traditional armies into one capable of waging guerrilla warfare. Already, the Army is retraining more than 100,000 troops, in specialties such as artillery and air defense, to work as military police, engineers and civil-affairs troops, concentrating on reconstruction. All are considered more effective in battling insurgencies.

Col. Poffenbarger isn't the only one with doubts about use of the new Army helmet. The marines have developed their own new helmet, made of the same stronger Kevlar as the Army's. The marines decided not to alter the shape, so their new helmet will continue to cover portions of the side and back of the head.

The marines say their helmet provides protection against mortars, remote-detonated roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades -- three of the biggest killers of U.S. troops in Iraq. "We felt like the extra coverage was needed to protect against those indirect fire threats," says Lt. Col. Gabe Patricio, the marine corps' project manager for infantry equipment.

Col. Poffenbarger's observations are by no means a comprehensive study. His research is based on about 160 head-trauma patients who have passed through the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where he works. Because the hospital houses the only American neurosurgeons in Iraq, virtually every serious head-trauma patient is treated by him or his partner. "If you get shot in the head in Iraq, I see you," he says.

He has gone through the records of all the hospital's head-trauma patients, documenting the exact entry point at which the shrapnel or bullet entered the brain and the type of helmet the Soldier or marine was wearing. Extrapolating from this, Col. Poffenbarger estimates the new helmet might result in a 30% increase in serious head traumas if distributed throughout the entire force in Iraq.

Because of his research, some senior commanders of new units arriving in Iraq have been given the choice of keeping their old helmets or using the new ones, one defense official says. Tens of thousands of Soldiers are already wearing the new helmet in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For now, the Army is committed to issuing the helmet to all 840,000 Soldiers in the force by 2007, says Col. John Norwood, the Army's project manager for Soldier equipment.

There's a good reason that the new helmet is slightly smaller, Col. Norwood says. For years, Soldiers have complained that when they are lying on their stomachs firing rifles, their body armor rides up -- tipping their helmet over their eyes. The new helmet was designed to address that problem. "We think it is a good trade-off or we wouldn't be fielding it," he says.

The new helmets -- which cost $300 each, compared with about $100 for the old ones -- are made to the Army's specifications by MSA Corp., based in Pittsburgh; Specialty Defense Systems of Dunmore, Pa.; and Gentex Corp., of Carbondale, Pa. Like the Army, the manufacturers say the new helmet allows Soldiers to see and hear better than its predecessor. A spokesman for MSA says Soldiers are likely to wear the new helmet longer because it is more comfortable.

The marine corps has bought about 40,000 of its new helmet, which is larger than the Army's and is also made by Gentex. The marines plan to buy about 140,000 more over the next two years, at a cost of about $200 each. The marines also plan on purchasing about 1,000 of the new Army helmets for Force Reconnaissance Soldiers, who typically charge out in front of the larger marine force and are less exposed to shrapnel from artillery and mortars.

Col. Poffenbarger, whose father was an Army physician in Vietnam and whose mother was a geneticist, says that for infantrymen charging into conventional battle, a smaller helmet makes sense. "The best way to be safe in combat is to be more lethal than the enemy," he says. The new helmet, which allows Soldiers to see better while lying on their stomach shooting, should make them more effective in that situation, he says.

The old Army helmet (left) provides more protection to the back and sides of the head than the new helmet (right), which is lighter and allows greater mobility. Both include chin straps.

But for the majority of Soldiers in Iraq, who aren't aiming at the enemy head-on, he contends the new helmet will lead to more injuries and deaths.

The doctor concedes his research has at least two shortcomings. If a Soldier is shot or struck by fragment in the head -- but is protected by the helmet and avoids serious injury -- Col. Poffenbarger is unlikely to see him. "My conclusions could be slightly slanted to the negative because I don't see the success stories," he says.

He also hasn't been able to get data on Soldiers who are struck in the head and die before reaching the hospital. Col. Poffenbarger estimates there have been 300 such cases since the war began. He has asked the military morgue at Dover Air Force base in Delaware for copies of those autopsy reports but says that so far, officials there have denied his requests to e-mail him the data.

A senior defense official said Col. Poffenbarger could review the autopsy data when he returns from Iraq. This official said the request to e-mail data was denied because of concerns the information could circulate and compromise patients' rights to privacy. "There has been no attempt to keep him from doing research. In fact, we welcome it," this official said.

The Army's smaller helmet was developed as part of the service's Rapid Fielding Initiative, which seeks to push new equipment to Soldiers in the field. Usually, it takes months or years to develop new military gear. Under the Rapid Fielding Initiative, the Army says it can speed new equipment to Soldiers in weeks.

The rapid-fielding program kicked off in early 2002, in an effort to address complaints from Soldiers in Afghanistan that their equipment wasn't holding up in the rocky terrain. So far, more than 50 items, such as improved ammunition packs, better radios, shoulder pads and weapon sights, have been sent to troops under the initiative, which typically looks to commercially available products.

In the case of the Advanced Combat Helmet, the Army used a preexisting contract the U.S. Special Operations Command had to develop a new helmet for its troops.

The biggest appeal of the new Army helmet is that it is made of a stronger Kevlar, able to stop a bullet from a 9mm pistol at close range. The old helmet can't stop such a round, says the Army's Col. Norwood. The new helmet is also lighter, weighing three pounds compared with the older four-pound helmet. "The extra pound makes a big difference to the Soldier in Iraq," Col. Norwood says.

Soldiers in Iraq say the new Army helmet, which is padded on the inside, is more comfortable. "It doesn't shift around on your head as much as the old helmet. That's important when you are using night-vision goggles," says an Army sergeant who leads regular convoys between Ramadi and Khalidiyah. Night-vision goggles usually are bolted to the helmet. The sergeant says he also noticed the new helmet doesn't cover as much of his head. "It seems the area around my ears is a lot more exposed," he says.

At about the same time the Army was starting to field its new helmet in Iraq, Col. Poffenbarger was trying to persuade the Army to send him off to war.

In the U.S., Col. Poffenbarger serves as Chief of Neurosurgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Generally, hospital chiefs are deemed too senior to send to war zones. Col. Poffenbarger, a married father of four, says he volunteered for duty in Iraq, in part because he believed the nature of combat might help spur medical innovation, as it has in past wars. He wanted to be a part of that innovation.

In World War II, neurosurgeons learned that by moving closer to the front lines -- where they could see patients within hours of their injury instead of days -- they could dramatically lower infection and fatality rates. Even though front-line surgeons were operating in far-more-primitive conditions, infection rates for patients dropped to less than 5% when the doctors were closer to the front, from 33% when they were positioned further back, Col. Poffenbarger says.

Before the Vietnam War, military neurosurgeons went out of their way to ensure that every bit of shrapnel and dirt was removed from Soldiers' skulls during surgery. Often that meant operating as many as five times. By the end of the Vietnam War, surgeons had discovered they could leave a small amount of shrapnel or dirt behind without increasing the patient's risk of seizures. Fewer surgeries meant more patients survived longer.

Because he had worn a helmet as an enlisted and Special Forces Soldier, Col. Poffenbarger was particularly interested in how that piece of equipment could be improved. In his more than 20 years as an Airborne Soldier, he estimates he made more than 100 jumps. "I know what it is like to jump from an airplane in a helmet and body armor," he says.

Upon his arrival in Iraq in January, Col. Poffenbarger volunteered for flight duty, boarding helicopters that fly out to the scene of attacks to evacuate the wounded, as well as for duty with his old special-operations unit. "He's got serious thrill issues," says Maj. Rich Gullick, Col. Poffenbarger's assistant in Iraq.

The colonel also began plotting on a spreadsheet the entry point at which shrapnel penetrated the skulls of his patients. He noted whether they were wearing the old helmet or the new one. After logging in the first 50 or so patients, he noticed a disturbing trend. Soldiers wearing the Army's new combat helmet were suffering repeated blows to exposed portions of the skull. In about a third of the cases, the shrapnel was penetrating the skull in areas that he figured would have been covered by the old helmet.

When struck on the side of the head, the Soldiers often suffered serious injury requiring surgery, he says. When struck on the back of the head near the neck, a part of the skull that houses the cerebellum, patients frequently died. "Even moderate injury to the cerebellum causes swelling which crushes the brain stem," he says. The brain stem regulates breathing and heart rate.

Col. Poffenbarger's day usually begins with a 7:30 a.m. staff meeting, followed by two hours of hospital rounds and a three-mile jog in what has lately been up to 115-degree heat. He and Maj. Gullick refer to the time between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. as the "witching hours," when most of the head-trauma cases come into the hospital. In one 48-hour period last week, he and his partner did six back-to-back craniotomies, or surgical openings of the skull, before they had a chance for a few hours of sleep.

In his small office in Baghdad, Col. Poffenbarger keeps the helmets of a half a dozen Soldiers he has operated on in the last year. So far, he has personally seen only one case in which a patient was struck by shrapnel in his Kevlar helmet and died. In that instance, a giant piece of shrapnel from a massive artillery shell placed by the side of the road exploded.

The shrapnel didn't penetrate the Kevlar. But it hit the Soldier's head with such force that it caused a massive concussion, which killed him. "This is the only documented failure I have seen in eight months in Iraq," he says. "The message is that when struck, Kevlar helmets work."

--Nicholas Zamiska contributed to this article.

If you have a PASGT kevlar helmet "horror" story to tell, please email us!

We need as much anecdotal evidence as possible to not give the petty bureaucrats an excuse to ignore the helmet safety issue any longer. The old "When I was in the service the helmet sucked so you should suffer too" mentality will not be tolerated. There is a better way to improve the safety of our troops and at the same time improving their combat power by upgrading their PASGT kevlar helmets, we must do this.

An Army Engineer writes:

"There is a company called Oregon Aero, that makes kits to retrofit the PASGT helmets for better safety, comfort, and survivability. Upgrades range from a simple chinstrap retrofit to a full set of moisture wicking pads that cushion the wearer's head and keep it cooler. Check their website, at:

www.oregonaero.com/Index.htm

for the various upgrades, instructions, and prices. This would give each trooper a helmet as good as, or better then, the MICH helmet for a fraction of the cost, using the helmet shells already in the inventory. Law enforcement officers are purchasing these to improve their ballistic helmets, generally with their own funds.

It's probably a non-issue, since the Large Green Machine won't approve the system, but Oregon Aero's BLSS (Ballistic Liner Suspension System) kit will install in the existing holes. I didn't check their other helmet mods, since this was the only one that really appealed to me. They have the illustrated installation instructions on the website. Similar to installing the improved suspension you show. I have been using the RBR Combat Helmet for police work (Read-no airborne ops) and the difference just a four point suspension makes is enormous. No longer is the world blotted out if I have to go prone.

Do you know if there are any statistics on injuries related to the PASGT helmets, either in airborne ops, or just everyday use? Such numbers could be brought to the attention of the Fourth Estate, or some sympathetic politicians, and maybe the Army would come off high center. I'm betting that the MICH helmet will not be general issue until the entire supply of PASGT shells is completely used up.

On another note, I am a member of one of the deployable Disaster Medical Assistance Teams. A sizeable portion of our medics use the large ALICE ruck, and more than half of them, myself included, have modified them with the Coleman frames discussed on your website. Good stuff, Maynard! Sturdier, so the Air Force loading goons don't break them, and they're also more adjustable for fit. Thanks for the tip.

All The Way!"

OUR REPLY: we took your advice and updated this web page!

An Army officer writes about the current chinstrap failing during parachute Airborne operations:

"I had to laugh out loud at the helmet comment, because it reminded me -- I literally almost broke my nose during the 30-foot tower jump on ground week D-1. I have long hair (I know, I know) and headgear can be a pain to fit. I couldn't get my helmet band adjusted right (It was beyond disgustingly dirty, BTW--I finally got smart and went and bought a new one), and I kept having JUST THE PROBLEM YOU DESCRIBE with the snap popping -- causing the helmet to drop forward and hit my nose, of course.

Jump one, "GODDAMIT THAT HURTS!"

Jump two (repeat above)

Jump three, my Black Hat finally calls me over, drops me for 10, and my head and re-adjusts the freakin' strap so it stays on. Then he showed me how to do it [Editor: Why didn't he show EVERYONE on Day 1?].

I felt like the World's Biggest Moron.

But problem solved."

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