BACK TO IRAQ: Troops get the latest, greatest equipment

BAGHDAD - Fort Carson soldiers here are smiling about the array of new gear they have to use in battle, including huge trucks to protect them from roadside bombs.

Since the 3,600-soldier brigade came home from Iraq in 2006, the Army has lavished new equipment on it, from protective eyewear and armored vests to hundreds of upgraded rifles with high-tech sights. But the biggest addition has come since the unit arrived in the Middle East, four-wheeled armored rigs that are bigger than dump trucks that soldiers say can shrug off bombings with little damage.

The South African-designed “mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle” has long since been shortened by soldiers to the acronym MRAP. It’s at least twice as big as a Humvee and has an armored V-shaped hull underneath that deflects the explosive forces other vehicles absorb.

“Hundreds of them have been hit with no fatalities,” said Spc. Scott Born, a military policeman who says going on missions from the brigade’s headquarters at Camp Taji, about 20 miles north of downtown Baghdad, with the big rig makes him feel safer.

The MRAP is in such demand here that they aren’t appearing on bases in America. They are shipped to the combat zone as soon as they roll off production lines. The brigade now has scores of them.

Commanders say it is just one example of how the Army has changed to meet combat needs.

“It’s pretty cool how they get all this stuff built and shipped out to us as soon as they can,” Born said.

Also appearing in Iraq are the newest Humvees, which the brigade got here. Stouter armor and a better suspension have been added to the design the Army has relied on since the Gulf War. Every soldier who leaves the gates of Camp Taji travels in an armored vehicle.

Other items, including the smaller, lighter M-4 rifle are in wider use in this deployment, the brigade’s third to Iraq. The M-4 has been issued to almost every soldier in the brigade. It has a shorter barrel than its predecessor, the M-16, and is preferred here because it’s easier to use in house-to-house fighting and to carry in armored vehicles, the brigade’s top supply officer, Maj. Dave Brown said. It weighs in at just over 7 pounds.

The new sights on the rifle allow a soldier to look through a scope and see a red dot where the bullet will hit.

The soldiers also were issued new armored vests that include plates that protect their sides. Unlike old vests that soldiers put on like coats, these are pulled over their heads and include a belt around the belly that carries some of the weight.

“It keeps the weight off your shoulders,” explained Pfc. Tim Hudson, who wears the new vest for long hours while on patrol.

Inside the vehicles, the brigade’s soldiers have new electronic tools. One system is designed to disrupt roadside bombs, and the Army won’t discuss it in detail.

The most popular addition is a headset with a microphone that replaces radio handsets and allows soldiers to talk within vehicles while canceling out road and engine noises and protecting their ears from the damaging sound waves from blasts and gunfire.

“No one has to yell, ever,” said Pfc. Travis Whitaker.

High-tech gear plays an ever-increasing role for the Army, and items beyond reach a few years ago, including unmanned airplanes, are used regularly.

The brigade has a fleet of pint-size spy planes that soldiers use to patrol this region just north of Baghdad without endangering lives.

Spc. Christopher Nelson controls the unmanned planes from the brigade’s headquarters and watches a TV screen to spot the telltale signs of roadside bombs — the single biggest killer of Fort Carson soldiers in Iraq.

“You have to sit there and try very hard to stay alert,” he said of his 12-hour shifts watching the trash-covered highway shoulders to find bombs.

The plane, while unarmed, intimidates the enemy, he said.

“They’re afraid of it,” Nelson said. “They know its sound.”

Brown said all the additions are aimed at keeping soldiers safer.

“We’re very well taken care of,” he said. “When it comes to soldier protection, it seems like no expense is spared.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: tom.roeder@gazette.com