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Army's new combat helmet might have fatal flaw
By Greg Jaffe
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
August 27, 2004
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, Poffenbarger contends. It is about 8 percent smaller than the old helmet, offering less protection on the back and side of the head.
In past wars, that 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, the deadliest threat is from remote-detonated roadside bombs, and many soldiers are getting hit on the sides and back of the head, said Poffenbarger.
"I've become convinced that for this type of guerrilla fight, we are giving away coverage that we need to save lives," said 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.
But for now, the Army is committed to issuing the helmet to all 840,000 soldiers in the force by 2007, said Col. John Norwood, the Army's project manager for soldier equipment.
There's a good reason that the new helmet is slightly smaller, Norwood said. 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," Norwood said.
However, the Marine Corps has decided not to issue the smaller helmet to the vast majority of its forces and has developed its own new helmet. It is made of the same stronger Kevlar as the Army's, but the Marines decided not to alter the shape.
Because of Poffenbarger's 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 said. Tens of thousands of soldiers are already wearing the new helmet in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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, said the Army's Norwood.
The new helmet is also lighter, weighing three pounds compared with the older four-pound helmet.
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," said an Army sergeant who leads regular convoys between Ramadi and Khalidiyah.
But the sergeant said 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 said.
Never heard that term before...
