Modern american soldier

I was wondering what kind of, for lack of a better word, "stuff" the modern american soldier goes into battle with sorry if this has been posted here before

what soldier to u mean just an infantry guy or anti tank or engineer?

Yeah, sorry bout that, i meant the basic no frills infantry


P.S. could you also includespecial forces too?

well it really depends on terrain but basically its combats,ammo,rifle,sidearm(only army), rations,FFD,water bottles,nades and flares depends on avaliability , rifle cleaning kit,poncho(tent) sleeping bag (and or bivie bag) , weapon of course,map,copass,bino's,spare set of combats,boots he's wearin and a small towel, wash kit ,cam cream,night vision gogles(i think) ,radio(if radio man) ,KFS set ,mess tins, purification tablets and the armour and the bergan to carry this in and the webbing. is all what a standard GI would wear on like a 2 or 3 day patrol but in combat just ammo,ffd,weapon,waterbottle,nades/flares etc., cam cream,gas masks,bino's,sidearm,rifle cleaning kit (i think) armour he's wearin,map compass. night vision for night combat. most just dump it in thier begans during day. thats it.
for SF its basically same just they have diffrent weapons and nades and some special gear oh and helmet for army most marines dont wear helmets and dont wear thier berets into the feild, they wear any sort of hat.

Of course, you forgot to include the bravery and love for his country one carries in the heart!

heres one none of you can answer, why do soldiers train on the m-16, but in the field (T.V. news reports) nearly 90% of regular soldiers carry M-4s?

this photo of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Paratrooper in Iraq who doesn't seem to be wearing IBA


Thats a whole lot of stuff, and it all serves a purpose. Combat loads have become a big issue in the military as loads can go over 90 pounds for some soldiers. The are working on ways to bring the load weight down. By 2025 they hope to have it down to 30 pounds.

[edit on 24-8-2004 by ShadowXIX]

heres a marine with his gear.
but its a royal so i dont know what americans carry.


Pictured is Cpl from Royal Marines with everything that he would carry with him into the desert. He is wearing service issue combat 95 desert camouflage clothing and webbing. Inside the webbing would be spare ammunition and grenades. The aircraft that would carry him and his team would be a 845 Naval Air Squadron (based at yeovilton) Seaking Mk 4. The cab would come from the Assault Helicopter carrier Hms Ocean. Kit List:1 Bergan, 2 Roll Mat, 3 Shamag,4 towel,5 tool kit, 6 wash roll: shaving,washing etc, 7 light sleeping bag, 8 poncho, 9 waterbottle, 10 water bottle and metal mu,11 4 magazines, 12 bivvie bag, 13 survival kit, 14 emergency water carrier, 15 body armour, 16 weapon sling, 17 magazine speed loader, 18 kevlar helmet, 19 spare socks, 20 torch with filters, 21 mess tin with spare food, 22 camel back (civilian water carrier) 23 hand held global positioning system, 24 weapon cleaning kit, 25 first fileld dressing, 26 gas for cooker, 27 fold away shovel, 28 respirator, 29 mosquito net, 30 weapon oil, 31 cooker, 32 spare field dressing, 33 mess tin with 24 hour rations. Most of the equipment will be carried inside the bergan with some split into the personal webbing.

[edit on 25-8-2004 by devilwasp]

It looks to me rediculous and counter productive carrying so much gear. You need extra rations and water soley for the reason of carrying it!
I know...what do you say when your soldiers don't have it?
Interesting.The brits have a very practical mosquito net.Could 'ave used that 'ere in Canada!
Does every soldier need a GPS? Or flares? Or night seeing equipment?
Water purification pills? I thought that was a fallacy.I would never sample water ,especially here,that wasn't tested.
A soldier's main task is carrying ammo for the main weapons,the machineguns and mortars.Those are king of the battlefields. if you miss a little sleep or some meals that is too bad.
Do they issue benzidrines ?

[edit on 25-8-2004 by stgeorge]

Originally posted by stgeorge
It looks to me rediculous and counter productive carrying so much gear. You need extra rations and water soley for the reason of carrying it!
I know...what do you say when your soldiers don't have it?
Interesting.The brits have a very practical mosquito net.Could 'ave used that 'ere in Canada!
Does every soldier need a GPS? Or flares? Or night seeing equipment?
Water purification pills? I thought that was a fallacy.I would never sample water ,especially here,that wasn't tested.
A soldier's main task is carrying ammo for the main weapons,the machineguns and mortars.Those are king of the battlefields. if you miss a little sleep or some meals that is too bad.
Do they issue benzidrines ?

[edit on 25-8-2004 by stgeorge]

actually the idea of haveing extra rations is incase everything goes wrong.
well you are going to need water purification pill's incase u run outa water, if your desperate then its worth it. yes night vision is essential every soldier gets that gear.
actually the main task of a soldier is to kill the enemy and to kill the enemy effectiviley u need to be in top performance or as close to that as possible.
actually there is no "kings" of the battle field. the batttle field is a strange place it defies logic and physics. acutally losiing sleep and some meals are a bad thing to have done to a soldier your performance level decreases and strength decreases which means you cant go as far or perform as well which can end up losing u the battle.
the GPS i think is standard issue but it might be for NCO's.

I am sorry.If you start drinking local ground water,you will get sick and be a burden. Not just natural bacteria and parasites,but industrial pollution.
Even local well and tap water over there can get you Gypo gut,like Montezuma's Revenge. The natives are immune to it.

Originally posted by stgeorge
I am sorry.If you start drinking local ground water,you will get sick and be a burden. Not just natural bacteria and parasites,but industrial pollution.
Even local well and tap water over there can get you Gypo gut,like Montezuma's Revenge. The natives are immune to it.

Yeah, thats what the water purification pills are for, and the US Army is developing a "straw" alongside the Pur company that reduces the effort required to purify the water (good idea if he hant seen water for days) for use in the desert

Originally posted by Paladin327
heres one none of you can answer, why do soldiers train on the m-16, but in the field (T.V. news reports) nearly 90% of regular soldiers carry M-4s?

M-16 is a standart weapon, M-4 is provisorium, it is used in Iraq because it fits better into the car/humvee and also combat distances are shorter. But both will be replaced by XM-8 with interchangeable barrels (318,508,229 mm)...

Again,that is what the M2 carbine was made for.....6 million of them.
Let me ask.The M4 is more compact than the M16 for that reason.Then WHY put a scope on it???

Originally posted by stgeorge
Again,that is what the M2 carbine was made for.....6 million of them.
Let me ask.The M4 is more compact than the M16 for that reason.Then WHY put a scope on it???

It's not a "scope" it's a red dot sight.

A red dot sight...looks like a scope,takes up space like a scope.What was wrong with a plain iron sight.Anyone else adopt these aimpoints? Are your men's shooting skills better or worse?

Originally posted by stgeorge
A red dot sight...looks like a scope,takes up space like a scope.What was wrong with a plain iron sight.Anyone else adopt these aimpoints? Are your men's shooting skills better or worse?

a the site doesnt need to be set to a specific range.unlike the iron and also some M4's have sights on them.

How can you sight one sight in for ALL ranges? The idea is a light compact "close ranged" weapon,which the M16 was supposed to be.But no.Someone wanted an even MORE compact,close ranged weapon.Not for three to six hundred meters,but for point blank as you jump out of the vehicle.
Therefore the reason for port firing weapons (The Germans had these with their Burp Guns and other MP's) and the reason special forces liked the Gustav SMG in Viet nam.
I think they were impressed by the weapons they found,for some reason all small...
The French MAT smg,the Pay pay sha, this and that,and even the SKS and AK's. Seems those who have to carry it know best.

Originally posted by stgeorge
A red dot sight...looks like a scope,takes up space like a scope.What was wrong with a plain iron sight.Anyone else adopt these aimpoints? Are your men's shooting skills better or worse?

I can only speak for me but I love red dot scopes for close ranges they let me fire alot quicker then with iron sites. The color red is a really easy color for the human eye too see it just stands out so much better then black on black iron sights.

It has many of the same advantages as a laser sight but that they cannot see the red dot. Most SF teams have some form of red dot scope in their inventory be they Spetnaz ,Delta, SAS

Trying them out I would say. But like iron sights they are next to useless at night.The Israelis trying the glow in the dark secondary sights. Far as I know they are satisfied with them.
But the aimpoint is not precise enough for distance shooting.Therefore good for close ranges.I have heard of them being mounted on shotguns and pistols. But at point blank,are they neccessary?
There was a magazine article,"Soldier of the Next Millenium" I think it was called.He had a visor with imaging equi[pment on it.It was also attached to sighting equipment on the rifle.You needed no sights (except as backup). Wherever you pointed the gun,a crosshair appeared on your visor superimposed on your view or target.
Sounds like a good idea,but what ever happened to it.British inspired I think.
"I can't see anything with this thing on my head!!" 2IC