Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

popularmechanics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 148 posts

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#41

Post by taurath »

sa46 wrote: post #38

Ah, an article I can comment on. I was an Infantry officer for 6 years and did all the normal schooling and a deployment. This is a pretty well done article. Here's some general ideas to keep in mind. - Most dismounted missions are run from trucks or an established forward operating base, so you don't carry a huge rucksack most of the time because you can just go back to your base. - Like the article states, even a d…

> Public perception and the news cycle makes the death of American service member a bigger deal than in past conflicts.

How does this compare to say Vietnam? It feels to me like the populace is worse divided, it’s disaffected. It seems like the new normal to have some god forsaken outpost where a few dozen soldiers die a year (not to mention thousands of local population - they’re even less of a consideration).

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#42

Post by michaelt »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #40
sa46 wrote: post #38

Ah, an article I can comment on. I was an Infantry officer for 6 years and did all the normal schooling and a deployment. This is a pretty well done article. Here's some general ideas to keep in mind. - Most dismounted missions are run from trucks or an established forward operating base, so you don't carry a huge rucksack most of the time because you can just go back to your base. - Like the article states, even a d…

Yeah, if electronic mules are so great, I would expect to see some actual mules still in service.

According to "FM 3-05.213 (FM 31-27) Special Forces Use of Pack Animals" from 2004 [1] "Today and throughout the operational continuum, SF may find themselves involved in operations in rural or remote environments, such as Operations UPHOLD DEMOCRACY or ENDURING FREEDOM, using pack animals."

[1] https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-05-213.pdf

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#43

Post by michaelt »

Kiro wrote: post #36
de_watcher wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you combine you get both problems.

How so? The soldiers don't need to carry the "nice to have" items and if it get struck it's not such a big deal.

1. Being OK to lose doesn't fix the problem of it being noisy.

2. There aren't many truly "It's OK to lose it" items, as they'd all have been lost by overburdened soldiers already.

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#44

Post by dingaling »

szopa wrote: post #14

This sounds insane. My hobby is medium distance hiking in (say, 250 km/155 mi na week) in the Scandinavian Arctic, so I have to carry all my food. I'm a fan of ultralight hiking, so my whole summer baggage weights around 10 kg/20 lbs excluding water. I invested some money in lighter equipment, yes, but most of my weight savings is stuff I simply do not take with me, or things that serve in multiple roles (eg. my hiki…

> avoid redundancy

That's really dangerous advice for anyone inexperienced in a particular endurance activity away from contact.

The military have a phrase: one is none and two are one. For anything that is life-critical, having only one is too risky.

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#46

Post by troels »

sa46 wrote: post #38

Ah, an article I can comment on. I was an Infantry officer for 6 years and did all the normal schooling and a deployment. This is a pretty well done article. Here's some general ideas to keep in mind. - Most dismounted missions are run from trucks or an established forward operating base, so you don't carry a huge rucksack most of the time because you can just go back to your base. - Like the article states, even a d…

    The Army decided some years ago to give every Company (~140 people) a Raven drone for recon. However, it's a huge deal if it gets lost (if the GPS guidance were to suddenly fail), so no one ever uses them to avoid the fallout associated with losing Army equipment.
That sounds like a serious problem?

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#47

Post by dingaling »

woodman wrote: post #39
Bahamut wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the M16, but the IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle) - that gun has a tight spread for an automatic rifle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M27_Infantry_Automatic_Rifle . I got to use it as my fire team's machine gunner before getting discharged in what was an unwinnable bureaucracy loop. It was a near total win over the SAW - not only was it more accurate & lighter, but it didn't breakdown anywhere near as much. The int…

It sounds like you never got to use the original SAW barrel. We got issued those stubby paratrooper barrels while in Iraq, which are nice for maneuverability, but it was at the cost of accuracy. The M249 was always a piece of junk when it came to reliability, which is why weapons guys are there with 240s. So long as the tempo is kept up for flanking maneuvers, and everybody doesn't try to establish a fixing base of f…

The irony is that the Minimi ( M249 ) was originally developed by FN as a Baby MAG ( M240 ) to bring GPMG firepower to the squad. It was originally chambered in 7.62x51

It was rechambered in 6x45 and then 5.56x45 for the US SAW competition. It never seemed to adapt well to the smaller rounds, less power for the mechanism.

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#48

Post by gadders »

sa46 wrote: post #38

Ah, an article I can comment on. I was an Infantry officer for 6 years and did all the normal schooling and a deployment. This is a pretty well done article. Here's some general ideas to keep in mind. - Most dismounted missions are run from trucks or an established forward operating base, so you don't carry a huge rucksack most of the time because you can just go back to your base. - Like the article states, even a d…

What's your opinion on soldiers addiing more of a fitness emphasis to strength, rather than just cardiovascular fitness? EG: https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/heavier-kit-stronger-soldiers/

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#49

Post by mcv »

Kiro wrote: post #12

By reading this article the solution seems simple: mule robots only carrying the “just in case” items.

Exactly what I thought. You may not want the "mule" to carry vital stuff, but if soldiers are carrying too much, they need to get rid of all the 'nice to haves'. If you want to have them nearby anyway, put those on a mule that trails the squad. At some distance, if necessary, as long as it can eventually catch up or be found when it's needed.

Re: The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever

#50

Post by gadders »

potta_coffee wrote: post #17
woodman wrote: post #11

I actually wrote an essay that dug pretty deep into this topic, many years ago, after I finished my enlistment as a Marine infantry machinegunner - likely the most overburdened MOS. I'm surprised this didn't get a mention in the article, especially considering the latest developments: women in combat roles. The significant difference between male and female upper body strength is going to be impossible to ignore unde…

I always felt bad for you weapons guys. We had a guy in our company that barely met the height requirement. He was like, 5'3" and 95lbs soaking wet. He was a machine gunner and he humped his heart out but it was painful to watch.

I just read Rob O'Neill's [1] book [2] and in it recounts an anecdote about when they were preparing to attack a building. They fired a couple of rockets at it, and were readying to attack when the guy responsible for carrying the ammo (who was also on the smaller side) asked if they could fire another one so he would have less ammo to carry back to base.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._O'Neill_(U.S._Navy_S...

[2] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Operator-Operative-Mission-Changed-...

Post reply on HN