PEO Soldier

Written by Debi Dawson

From weapons to gear of every shape and size, Program
Executive Office-Soldier is the place that makes it happen.

PEO Soldier places its focus on the needs of individual soldiers, providing them with equipment to complete their missions. With the Army’s focus on Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the intense efforts to decrease the soldier’s load, PEO Soldier has begun to develop and field a number of new products to the SOF community. These products meet the specific needs of the SOF, while still providing outstanding protection, lethality and comfort for the soldiers in the field.

ENHANCED NIGHT VISION GOGGLES

When it comes to fighting skills, the SOF are peerless. To enhance their capabilities and protect warfighters operating in any light level or battlefield condition, PEO Soldier has begun fielding enhanced night vision goggles (ENVG) to the SOF community.

The ENVG is a helmet-mounted monocular device that flips down over the soldier’s eye. Unlike previous night vision systems, the ENVG incorporates both passive image intensification (I2) as well as long-wave infrared sensors into a single system. The thermal imagery from the infrared sensors is placed over the I2 imagery, giving the viewer greatly increased detection ability in any battlefield conditions.

The ENVG brings the benefits of both thermal imaging and passive I2 together, while also mitigating their respective drawbacks, providing unprecedented capabilities on the battlefield. The thermal overlay provides faster and more accurate identification of threats. The I2 allows soldiers to not only see the terrain in greater detail than the human eye, but also makes aiming lasers visible to users. Most impressively, the ENVG greatly enhances the ability to see in day, night, all-weather, and degraded battlefield conditions.

These capabilities not only increase lethality, but the situational awareness of the users as well. SOF units will be more cognizant of not only the threats in the field, but of the location of friendly forces around them. This increased accuracy is further complemented by an equipped user’s ability to better judge friend from foe with ENVG, lowering the potential for collateral damage and fratricide. In addition to the increased capabilities of the ENVG, the system is also more versatile than previous night vision systems. It weighs 2 pounds, including the battery pack with four AA batteries, helmet mount and wiring harness. Since the ENVG incorporates two systems into one without a loss of capability, it reduces the weight and logistical footprint of each soldier. The ENVG also incorporates soldier feedback in its design, and has several fit and function improvements over previous night vision systems. For instance, the helmet mount’s center of gravity has been adjusted to provide greater stability when the monocular is in use. The smaller, more compact design is also easier for soldiers to stow and allows for greater mobility.

The ENVG is already being fielded to SOF units. The ENVG-Digital (ENVG-D), a future system currently under development, will continue to advance this capability and also allow for soldiers to import and export digital files.

MOUNTAINEERING EQUIPMENT

Prior to Operation Enduring Freedom beginning in Afghanistan, the only mountaineering equipment available for Army operations was outdated. As operations have increased in the Afghanistan theater, it was recognized that a capability gap exists between the needs of soldiers operating in mountainous areas and the equipment available.

“In order to address this, we approached the Army Mountain Warfare School to redesign our equipment, and make it applicable to Afghanistan and future conflicts,” said Major Joseph Anderson, assistant product manager for PEO Soldier Clothing and Equipment. Using their unparalleled experience, the Army Mountain Warfare School organized three different mountain kits focused on equipping an Infantry platoon.

The first of the three kits is a basic package, consisting of tools such as harnesses, locking carabineers, rappelling equipment, ropes and other basic climbing necessities. This kit is designed to be used by soldiers with minimal training and climbing experience. “We’d expect that most of these soldiers wouldn’t have gone to mountaineering school, but would have learned from an NCO or leader that has,” said Anderson.

The other two kits are for more advanced climbers, and contain more mission-specific gear to tailor the load of the soldier to the mission at hand. They provide further capabilities, building off the essentials of the basic kit. For instance, the second kit contains anchors and dynamic ropes among other tools. Alternately, the third kit has shovels, crampons, ice axes and avalanche transceivers in addition to other specialized gear. These more advanced kits are intended for assault climbing teams who have attended mountaineering school and are experienced climbers.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the kits and the equipment, the rapid equipping force will be conducting a technology insertion with a unit deploying to Afghanistan in the near future. The experiences and feedback from this unit will be used to guide the further development of mountaineering equipment. “Based on [the soldiers’] response, the kits could be redefined and reconfigured,” said Anderson.

The mountaineering equipment kits are currently composed of commercial off-theshelf equipment. This allowed for the fast and effective acquisition of proven equipment at a fraction of the cost of developing new gear. The development of the mountaineering equipment kits is indicative of the care and efficiency of all acquisitions by PEO Soldier. When faced with the possibility of a capability gap, an effective solution was quickly organized with the help of the most experienced and knowledgeable experts in the field.

COMMON REMOTELY OPERATED WEAPONS STATION

In the summer of 2006, while executing extremely dangerous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, SOF experienced a high number of improvised explosive device (IED) attacks on all their vehicles. A potential solution to such attacks soon emerged that would help soldiers perform their missions and dramatically improve their safety: using mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles armed with remote weapon stations. This would allow soldiers to accurately and safely acquire and engage targets using remote controls from inside their vehicles.

Initially, SOF needed production-ready remote weapon stations and selected the M151A2 Protector being fielded on the Stryker family of vehicles. PM Stryker provided initial hardware, and PM Soldier Weapons (PM SW) provided integration design, installation, new equipment training, maintenance and field support in theater. However, in August 2007, PM SW awarded a competitive contract for a newer remote weapon station: the XM153 common remotely operated weapon station (CROWS). Compared to the Protector, CROWS provided a significantly larger ammo container, automatic target tracking, lead angle computation and ballistic protective armor. SOF immediately obtained several CROWS for their growing number of vehicles in theater. Both Protector and CROWS have helped protect gunners from direct fire, blast and shrapnel and provided enhanced optics for threat detection.

For more than a year and a half, SOF has been fielding remote weapon stations using the guidance and program expertise of PM SW. During this time, substantial advances have been made in training and in sustaining and maintaining the Protector and CROWS systems. Under the command of Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, PM SW is the office responsible for acquiring these systems.

New equipment training (NET) for CROWS consists of classroom, simulator, practical exercise and real range-fire training. Class materials include lesson plans for operator and maintenance training, troubleshooting, weapon interfacing, boresighting and comprehensive hands-on use. Fixed-site training facilities have been established domestically, on both the East and West coasts, and a mobile training team has been created to service units at their home bases. Certification for operating remote weapon stations is provided upon successful completion of NET.

By harmonizing multiple organizations, PM SW provided program leadership and management; TACOM Rock Island and SOCOM provided facilities, requirements and life cycle support. The resulting team united soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and contractors in a working unit capable of executing complex installation and training at many locations in a combat environment. The program produced an outstanding working relationship between Army and joint commands. And most importantly, teamwork has given soldiers the state-of-the-art weapons and technology they need to fight and win on the modern day battlefield.

PORTABLE HELICOPTER OXYGEN DELIVERY SYSTEM

A perennial challenge to operations in Afghanistan has been hypoxia, a condition that develops when the brain is deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen. Because of the high elevations in Afghanistan, helicopter pilots and crews are frequently required to operate in unpressurized cabins at altitudes where hypoxia is a serious risk. To protect the health and operational abilities of soldiers, PEO Soldier has begun fielding the portable helicopter oxygen delivery system (PHODS) to Army aviation Special Forces units.

The PHODS consists of a small oxygen bottle, a regulator and a delivery system. Oxygen is provided through either a mask, for more active crew members that have to move around during flight, or via the system’s nasal cannula, which sit just below the nose on a special boom attached to the flight helmet.

The regulator on the PHODS provides bursts of oxygen, as opposed to a continuous flow, which greatly increases the longevity of the oxygen supply. The regulator is also “smart,” utilizing a barometer and breath sensors to provide more oxygen at a greater height or when the user’s rate of respiration increases. For an average user at 15,000 feet, the PHODS provides about two and one-half hours of oxygen.

“Hypoxia is insidious,” said Jim Isaacs, the program integrator for Air Warrior. “It will sneak up on you, and you won’t realize that your motor functions are being impaired.” Symptoms generally include impairment to vision, motor skills and judgment. If the signs or symptoms are not recognized in time, hypoxia can lead to total incapacitation and in the extreme, death.

Though all helicopter crews are trained to identify the symptoms of hypoxia, it is a universal problem. “This affects everyone,” said Isaacs. “The effects vary from person to person, as does the altitude at which it manifests itself, but everyone is at risk.”

Before the PHODS, Chinook and Black Hawk helicopter crews had the helicopter oxygen system to protect them from hypoxia. Weighing over 100 pounds, this system was large and heavy as compared to the PHODS. The helicopter oxygen system also relied on a tethered mask to supply oxygen. This restricted the movement of helicopter crews and did not provide supplemental oxygen should a crewmember need to egress the aircraft. The PHODS allows for greater mobility within a helicopter, as well as the freedom to move outside the helicopter, while still receiving oxygen. The PHODS will also be the first oxygen delivery system for the Apache.

PEO Soldier has already begun fielding PHODS units to SOF helicopter crews, along with mobile oxygen cylinder refill stations (MOCRS) to replenish PHODS tanks. There are over 200 units already in service with Army aviation SOF.

LAND WARRIOR

In accordance with an operational needs statement (ONS), SOF will soon be receiving the Land Warrior system (LW), the most advanced piece of equipment available for dismounted troops. For years, great strides have been made in creating a robust information infrastructure to connect deployed assets together, and provide information distribution between them and their commanders. LW is the only system that brings dismounted troops into the information network, as well as allowing for digital information to be exchanged on the battlefield independent of other networks.

LW is essentially a wearable networked communications and geospatial navigation device. On the soldier’s body it consists of a flip-down monocular eye-piece, a small joy-stick like device for interacting with the system, and a computing unit. LW has seen great improvements and incorporates the specific requests of soldiers that have used the system. The current version is integrated into the soldier’s gear, and weighs less than the LW-Manchu version used in 2007 supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. The system also uses a scalable set of batteries to tailor a soldier’s load to the mission requirements.

The primary function of LW is to increase situational awareness. Through the monocular, an equipped soldier sees not only his or her location on a scalable digital map, but the location of every other LW-equipped unit in the area. This allows for greater mission accuracy; increases speed and lethality; and can effectively eliminate the threat of fratricide.

With LW, an equipped soldier can send and receive digital voice and text messages between equipped units and with commanders. Text messaging is especially powerful, since it allows for soldiers to communicate silently. LW also allows for digital information, such as text and images, to be pushed wirelessly between systems and from command. For instance, soldiers can also place a marker, or “digital chemlight,” on their map, and that marker will appear on the map of every other LW system in the area.

In previous fieldings, LW and its predecessors have been issued only to team leaders. But because of the SOF community’s methods of operation, every soldier in an equipped operational detachment alpha (ODA) will be receiving the system. This will provide the SOF with unprecedented accuracy, information sharing, and command and control capabilities. LW has already seen great success in Iraq with the 4th Battalion-9th Infantry Regiment/4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT)/2nd Infantry Division (2ID), and will soon be fielded with the 5th SBCT/2 ID to Afghanistan. A future system, the ground soldier ensemble, will incorporate numerous system and design upgrades and is currently under development. The Army intends to equip an entire SOF battalion with LW in 2010. ♦
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Debi Dawson is the strategic communications officer for PEO Soldier.

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