The Modern Warrior's Combat Load - Dismounted Operations in Afghanistan

In 1950, Colonel S.L.A Marshall published what was to become a treatise on the Soldier's combat load in his book The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation (Association of the United States Army). Marshall's book, based upon after-action insights and histories that he had collected during the Normandy Invasion in 1944, was to become mandatory reading for many U.S. Army and Marine Corps officers over he course of the remainder of the 20th Century and on into the 21st Century. After several reprints, Marshall's book continues to be highly read today. Though many changes have occurred in Soldier equipment and means of transportation since the Second World War, the foot Soldier continues to carry his mission load on his back and that load can prove excessive based upon the equipment and his mission requirements. With improvements and enhancements of individual equipment over the years, the total weight and bulk of modern equipment has not been significantly reduced and the modern Soldier can be even more heavily burdened with mission equipment today than he was in previous military conflicts. This presentation focuses on the modern warrior's combat load as experienced by a U.S. Army Infantry brigade task force fighting a low intensity conflict in the deserts and mountainous regions of Afghanistan. Data was collected over a two month period in the spring of 2003, as the task force conducted continuous, hard hitting combat operations to not only deny maneuver and safe haven to the enemy, but to capture or destroy Taliban and Al Qaeda elements. The data presented are neither all inclusive of all Army units nor should any of the data be considered a criticism of the units surveyed. The data stands as a snapshot of the modern dismounted Soldier's combat load. This data, a mirror of our Army today as it fights a two-theater war in Afghanistan and Iraq, can thus serve as baseline information for making significant materiel, logistical, and training improvements over the course of the 21st Century. This historical battlefield study serves as the first real-time collection of combat load ever undertaken by the U.S. Army during combat operations. A team of experienced Infantrymen hand picked and hand trained in the United States, collected the data from over 700 paratroopers while accompanying and fighting with the units of the task force during 15 separate combat operations. As such, the study provides a rare insight into what Soldiers carry into battle and why.