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Members of the 236th Medical Company at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center recently upgraded to some of the best warfighting equipment offered to the U.S. military.
Two Soldiers from the 236th were issued the ceremonial 10,000th Air Warrior kit and its 1,000th Electronic Data Manager system prior to the entire 138-person unit being fitted with the new gear.
***image1***Representatives from various government contracting agencies and Brig. Gen. Mark Brown of Fort Belvoir, Va.-based PEO Soldier were on hand as the versatile vests with assorted appendages were dispersed. The activity followed pre-deployment routine as portions of the 236th prepare to move operations to Iraq and other global conflict zones in 2007.
The Air Warrior kits were developed using Aviation Support Life Equipment elements and were first implemented with Soldiers back in 2004. That first package was referred to as Generation One, while today’s latest technology is Generation Three.
“We use various means to plan the upgrades,” said Pete Stephens of Armor Holdings, one of a handful of companies who developed the Air Warrior kits. “There is Soldier input, design engineers, other contributors – it’s a collaboration of ideas. We have a Web site that serves as a place for people to voice their ideas on how to improve the gear.”
General Brown said an Air Warrior kit costs $1,500 and features a weapons holster, tracking and signaling devices, rations and medical supplies within an integrated, adjustable vest unit. Additional equipment such as the EDM and the Microclimate Cooling System can further enhance the Soldier’s ability to successfully carry out a mission.
“We found that the high temperatures in (Iraq) made it difficult for pilots to remain effective past an hour and a half of flying,” said Lt. Col. Shannon Womack, also on hand from Virginia. “This Microclimate Cooling System cools the body and increases that time frame to five hours.”
The EDM is designed to be worn as a knee-board and can provide coordinates of not only friendly forces but also those of the enemy. Text-messaging and global satellite positioning are other features which will make life easier for the user. Used in conjunction with Blueforce technology which must first be installed on the unit’s helicopters, the EDM costs approximately $7,100 and offers U.S. forces the most accurate, up-to-date technology with regard to coordinate tracking.
“One of our helicopters is currently having it installed and the others will follow,” said Capt. Jesse Delgado, a flight platoon leader with the 236th. “All of this affects how the pilots will function in the cockpit.”
About 35 of the 138-man LRMC-based unit are pilots, but every crewmember on such missions downrange is already using the new equipment.
