Soldier Armed

By Scott R. Gourley out there in industry that could … pro - Wilkerson emphasized that the sys - tect soldiers’ eyes. They came up with tems provide additional ballistic pro - ilitary combat eye protection a few different opportunities for pro - tection over standard eye-protective M(MCEP) eyewear was introduced tection. By implementing the APEL safety glasses, stopping bigger projec - early during Operations Enduring program they reduced eye injuries … tiles traveling at higher rates of speed. Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Designed by half.” “They’re not bulletproof,” he said, to protect warfighters’ eyes from exter - The APEL list is frequently updated “but they will protect against fragmen - nal threats and hazards, today MCEP and recently included spectacles and tation.” is viewed as an umbrella program goggles from a variety of manufactur - Revision’s Carey also highlighted geared toward eye protection and vi - ers, including Revision, Wiley X, Oakley, protection levels, calling Sawfly’s spec - sion correction. ESS (Eye Safety Systems), Smith Optics, tacle design “the best eye protection on MCEP emerged in 2004 through the Uvex and Arena (goggles). the planet … Everything on this frame cooperative efforts of multiple organi - “Soldiers first get our eyewear in ba - and everything on this lens is designed zations, including the Army Medical sic training,” Carey continued. “They that way for a reason,” he said. “There Department (AMEDD), Office of the get issued Desert Locust [goggles] and is nothing on there that’s superfluous. Army Surgeon General and Program Sawfly [spectacles] for their training There is nothing on there because ‘we Executive Office-Soldier. Initially dis - because of … durability, scratch resis - thought it would look better that way.’ tributed through the Rapid Fielding tance and the design.” We based our idea off four main tenets: Initiative, MCEP spectacles and gog - According to Ryan Wilkerson, gov - superior ballistics, flawless optics, gles are now issued during initial entry ernment sales program manager at Wi - rugged durability and [being] 100 per - training and may also be purchased ley X, the company currently has four cent U.S. made. All four of those are through normal logistics channels. In systems on APEL, including Talon, PT- very important.” addition, optical prescription inserts 1, and SG-1 and Spear goggles. In terms of ballistics, for example, may be ordered at the home station op - tometry clinic and in theater. AMEDD descriptions characterize MCEP program success as “phenome - nal,” crediting MCEP use with signifi - cant reductions in eye injury-related evacuations from theater. The MCEP program approach emphasizes both choice and testing. Choice translates to a variety of available authorized pro - tective sizes and styles to meet mission needs while also improving soldier ac - ceptance and reducing the likelihood of eye injuries. Eyewear products must pass rigorous tests, with successful completion leading to acceptance on l the Approved Protective Eyewear List l e r r

(APEL). Eyewear not on the APEL is u B

k r not authorized for wear during com - a M

bat, training or when there is a risk of G S S /

impact injury to the eyes. y m “There were a lot of eye injuries,” ex - r A

. S plained Sean Carey, central regional . U sales manager for Revision Military, Wearing ballistic eye protection that helps reduce battleﬁeld eye injuries, CPL one of the providers of MCEP systems. Justin L. Gessert, 327th Infantry Regiment, scans the horizon from his ﬁghting “The Army started to look at what was position on a remote hilltop in eastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan Province.

March 2013 I ARMY 67 n o s t a M

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. S . U Tinted lenses afford protection from the glare as 1LT John Dundee and his soldiers return from patrol to their Combat Outpost Najil in Afghanistan’s Laghman Province.

Carey credited the lenses with the abil - out being so thin that they slice down Threshold (T) and objective (O) re - ity to “stop a 12-gauge [shotgun] with on the top of the ears. … They also quirements for the next generation of #6 shot at 16 feet … Our goggles will wrap around the back of the head in - spectacles and goggles include 10 per - stop a .22-caliber round at 900 feet per stead of behind the ears, because now cent (T) and 15 percent (O) increases second. They are 24 and 32 percent when you’re wearing comms and a for spectacles and 5 percent (T) and 10 higher than military specifications for helmet you can slide them straight on percent (O) for goggles. Most signifi - their classes.” and off. We introduced recessed tem - cantly, the next-generation systems an - ples in front of the eyewear because if ticipate variable transmission lenses e also explained that the product you had a straight arm, your helmet with transition from 18 to 68 percent Hhas evolved over a decade of strap would push in and give you hot (T) and 18 to 89 percent (O) in less than user feedback. “As we got soldier feed - spots on your temples. With that re - one second. back , one of the things we saw was cessed temple, it’s now close enough Several contractors are believed to be that there is very little ‘real estate’ to your skin that it’s comfortable when refining their variable transmission de - around soldiers’ eyes and ears, but that helmet strap is fastened. There’s signs following a request for informa - there are a lot of things going on up also an apex on the front of the frame. tion and sources released in fall 2012. there,” he said. “You have communi - It was designed that way because According to Wiley X’s Wilkerson, a cation devices [comms], hearing pro - when you are wearing gloves, it is eas - less-than-one-second goal for variable tection, helmet straps, eye protection ier to grasp the frame to change out transmission photochromic technolo - and a few other things if you have a lenses twice a day from clear to smoke gies on protective lenses represents an Land Warrior system. and from smoke to clear.” interesting challenge. “Along the way we had feedback The need to change lenses twice a “We’re working on some new tech - from our end users on places like our day may become a thing of the past nologies,” he said. “It’s new technol - Facebook wall, saying, ‘Your arms are under a future effort known as soldier ogy; new to the industry, and our re - kind of thick.’ So we went back to the protection system (SPS). A new pro - search and development people are drawing board and redesigned the gram from the Army’s product man - working on it feverishly.” arms. We now have thin arms on the ager for soldier protective equipment, For additional information, visit side for comms and helmet compati - SPS will consist of multiple protective https://peosoldier.army.mil/equip - bility. They’re more comfortable, with - subsystems, including eye protection. ment/eyewear. (

68 ARMY I March 2013