View Full Version : Modified helmets
I don't really pay much attention to the hollyweird crowd, not sure why I'm surprised Cher is involved...but it's pretty cool. Supposedly her sister handed her an article on the subject and told her to get involved and do something. Evidently she's been visiting the wounded at Walter Reed as well.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/14827773.htm
Cher attends hearing on soldiers' helmets
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The subject was whether to modify helmets for soldiers in Iraq, but all eyes were on Cher. As photographers clicked away, the singer and actress entered a Capitol Hill hearing room through a back door 20 minutes after the session was scheduled to start. The hearing soon got under way.
Cher has donated more than $130,000 to the group Operation Helmet, which pays about $100 to modify the inside of soldiers' helmets to make them better able to absorb shock from a bomb blast.
Cher, wearing a white lace top under a black pant suit, looked solemn as she sat behind the group's founder, Dr. Bob Meaders, while he testified. Meaders said she didn't want to cause a distraction by testifying herself.
Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, noted that Cher's ex-husband, the late Rep. Sonny Bono, had served on the subcommittee. He called it a "special irony and really great tribute" to have her there.
The Army now equips its soldiers with padded helmets designed to be shock absorbent. The Marine Corps has commissioned a study to determine whether to change its helmets but has said the ones Marines use now are effective.
Another article here... http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/061506.html
IIRC Sonny Bono, Cher's ex, a US Congressman, was killed on the ski slopes while not wearing a helmet.
IIRC Sonny Bono, Cher's ex, a US Congressman, was killed on the ski slopes while not wearing a helmet.
You're right.
Even though they were divorced, it tore Cher apart when Sonny died.
blustr18b
06-15-2006, 23:40
Thanks Gypsy for posting that article. I noticed it in the LA Times today also. I'm also glad to hear that the Army is supplying this modified helmets to the soldiers. So does this mean the SF guys wear them currently? I hope so, but then it would be a great idea for a fundraiser to get them if not. Everyone needs to be as protected as possible.
Blustr18b
So does this mean the SF guys wear them currently? I hope so, but then it would be a great idea for a fundraiser to get them if not. Everyone needs to be as protected as possible.
Blustr18b
Does a ball cap count?:D
Team Sergeant
06-16-2006, 11:41
Thanks Gypsy for posting that article. I noticed it in the LA Times today also. I'm also glad to hear that the Army is supplying this modified helmets to the soldiers. So does this mean the SF guys wear them currently? I hope so, but then it would be a great idea for a fundraiser to get them if not. Everyone needs to be as protected as possible.
Blustr18b
Save your money for something else.
SF soldiers wear pretty much what they want.
Some of us "hate" helmets and will only wear them for parachute jumps, period.
Max_Tab has the right idea. Caps keep the sun out of your eyes;)
TS
VelociMorte
06-16-2006, 12:55
Just received my new Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) yesterday. Instead of the typical web-type suspension system, it's lined with 7 replacable pads and has a 4-point chin strap. My SOV-2000 will be in next week. I'll be trying it all out in a desert environment in about 10 days. Just got back from 2 months downrange with the PASTG and Interceptor with plates. It'll be interesting to compare the two setups. I've worn the helmet for an hour or two, and I like it better already. Don't normally bother with one on the ground, but I have to have one to catch a ride.
Peregrino
06-16-2006, 12:56
Gypsy - TS is right. It's not really an issue for SF. Save the money unless you know a conventional guy without any support/OPFUND. This is not a new initiative. The article is talking about the Oregon Aero helmet upgrades for the PASGT Helmets. http://www.oregonaero.com/UIContent/News/ThebBLSSregbKit.aspx Most SF guys now have the MICH Helmets which come issued with the improved pads. FWIW - Peregrino
x SF med
06-16-2006, 13:23
VM you stole my tag line!!
Back in the old days of Steel Pots, the jump versions had those pads in them, and an extra strap in the back to hold the water bucket to your brain pan, and an even more uncomfortable strap forl your chin. But, you could shave in them, boil water, dig a foxhole (sorry improved fighting position), and use it as a form for really excellent shaped / cratering charges, or even if rigged properly as an APM or platter charge. I'm not going to say how they could be used in CWx environments while trapped in a snowhole, but the other FOGs know what I mean. I kinda missed the steel pots when we went to Kevlar.
Most SF guys now have the MICH Helmets which come issued with the improved pads.
We get the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) 2000 Model most of the time. Most good teams will find ways to get what that team "Needs" for their type of OPS.
But, like Peregrino, don't spend you $$ get the unit to do it or spend it. If your unit has yet to get them. The S-4 can get them if your deploying into on of the "Boxes". Like with most "New" Items your S-4 guys just need to know how to get them. Some times you may have to wait till you get into that "Box" your deploying to. It's messed up becuz you can't train with what you will be using down range, but you just need a good Supply NCO or OIC, some time a Finance Oifficer too.
Thanks for the information Peregrino and TS. I'm sure it is a worthy cause but armed with this knowledge I'd rather my money for contributions go where it would make a "better" impact...or in yummy care packages.
x SF med
06-16-2006, 16:40
Gypsy-
Care packages are the best - especially the yummy ones - that's from experience. :munchin
NousDefionsDoc
06-16-2006, 16:51
Reaper used to make me wear a hockey helmet decorated like NC State Wolfpack football helmet and one of those bungee harnesses they use to keep kids from escaping...
Kyobanim
06-16-2006, 17:13
Reaper used to make me wear a hockey helmet decorated like NC State Wolfpack football helmet and one of those bungee harnesses they use to keep kids from escaping...
ROTFLMFAO!
That post is useless without pictures!
Gypsy-
Care packages are the best - especially the yummy ones - that's from experience. :munchin
My specialty. :D And I always send enough to share. LOL once wrote a Soldier from the 20th and I'd send plenty of stuff for the whole Team...he said they were like jackals tearing into a gazelle when my packages arrived. I considered that quite the compliment. :lifter
x SF med
06-16-2006, 21:34
Gypsy-
My mom used to send homemade Toll house and oatmeal raisin cookies - other teams knew when those packages came in, and SGM wouldn't hand over my packages from home until he got his cut... imagine that. Now if we could just package sleep to send to the guys.....
NDD-
for some reason the picture of Mike Myers in that role on SNL comes to mind, did Reapeer have to control your sugar intake too? the ADHD 18D strikes again!
VelociMorte
06-16-2006, 21:41
My normal head gear...
Gypsy-
My mom used to send homemade Toll house and oatmeal raisin cookies - other teams knew when those packages came in, and SGM wouldn't hand over my packages from home until he got his cut... imagine that. Now if we could just package sleep to send to the guys.....
Why....that sounds like....extortion! :D Homemade cookies are a staple for my packages; I make a mean super-secret ingredient oatmeal chocolate chip recipie that some of my penpals still request even though they're home. LOL