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| Someone mentioned the heat over there. I'm not an expert, but I've treated more heat exhaustion/stroke victims than I'd like to count. Heat exhaustion is one of the biggest training risks the military has to counter. Regardless of the weather. Now put yourself in Iraq, add a different diet, higher temps, more daily exercise, stress, etc and it's the biggest risk you have and that's just in general. Now add all of your combat gear, add more stress, more strenuous activities. See where I'm going? Damage to your body starts at 99 degrees F, now, we've all had temperatures when we've got a cold or the flu at around 100..even up to 104. At 104 you're starting to run the risk of a stroke. If someone maintains a 105F or higher temperature for extended periods, you can have brain damage, kidney failure, liver failure, blood clotting abnormalities, etc. If you don't cool off, you can die, quickly.
The highest core temp (that's where we strip your trousers off and put a big thermometer up your butt) I personally recorded over in Iraq was 108.1F, this was on my 2d deployment (a while ago) and he's just now regaining liver/kidney functions. The only reason he survived was because myself and a medic happened to be right there as well as an already inbound MEDEVAC. We used the rotors from the helo to help cool him while we checked his core temp, started an IV, and got him ready to load. Had the Gods not fixed it so that everything was in the right place, the guy would have died. I've seen guys die from heat strokes, it isn't pretty.
Heat exhaustion has to be taken just as seriously. Not only does someone that's suffered from heat exhaustion run a higher risk of a heat stroke, it slows you down because you have to treat him, cool him, and wait before he can be active again.
It's a serious thing, and you can't say "drink more water," but there's only so much you can drink in a day before hyponatremia becomes a risk.
It's defininately a concern. Quote: |
Originally Posted by Locke no matter how fast you move, no one can outrun a bullet. | No, but a zig and a zag and running to cover has saved my life more than once. Quote: |
its thier choice, but if it is available to you and you refuse it and you get hit then you are a dumbass and you dont get a lot of my sympathy.
| I don't mean to be a dick here, but this comment to me is way out of line. Do you say this as someone that's actually had to wear all of that stuff day in and day out on patrols in upwards of 155 degree heat sporting the entire IBA ensemble? Ever tried to swim across the river in that ****, tried to run for cover, had to scale a wall, carry/drag a guy out of the line of fire, or climb five flights of stairs in a hurry? Naw, don't answer, if you had you wouldn't be calling anyone a dumbass, you'd know exactly what it is like and you would also know what's more practical and tactical for different situations. I don't wear all of that heavy stuff, that may make me a dumbass to you. To me, it makes me better able to do my job, and that's why we're there. For guys to do their jobs. Quote: |
how effective woudl this extra armour be against IED's??
| It depends, if you're in the blast radius, luck and a prayer are about the only things that are going to help you. I have yet to see a SAPI stop a 120mm or 150 IED. Speed and mobility are definitely two of the main factors you need, especially in an urban enviroment. Body armor needs to be mission dependent (it is for us, and it works out nicely), if you're manning the turret, you can get away with wearing the entire system. If you're trying to clear those tiny houses in Iraq, you better at least be able to fit through those itty bitty doors, lest you get stuck in the door and bottleneck when you're attempting a rapid entry. (yeah, it's happened) Everything is a compromise. Do you want to be armored from head to toe and defensive, or armored just enough so that you can be offensive? Again, mission dependant. War is a dangerous business, people will die. You can't change that no matter what. We're already taking more casualties because of the outside pressure to uparmor everything, keep everything nice, tidy and safe. It just can't be done.
Ut ceteri vivant. |