| Missed this when it first came out. |
FORT GREELEY, Alaska, Dec. 14, 2006 – Members of the Alaska Army National Guard here are sizzling with excitement about their new cold weather gear that keeps them toasty warm even when temperatures dip to double digits below zero. The new Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System takes the latest insulating and wicking materials that have become hot tickets among skiers, snowmobile riders and other extreme-sports enthusiasts and adapting them for soldiers operating in demanding arctic conditions, explained Army Maj. Joe Miley, operations officer for the Alaska Guard’s 49th Missile Defense Battalion. “It’s designed to work in extremely cold weather,” he said.
Those conditions make soldiering pretty demanding. They gel up diesel fuel in vehicles and fray or split belts, freeze up weapons systems, and render radios unusable. Such conditions can take an even bigger toll on troops, particularly those serving outside over extended periods. The new ECWCS gear, with 12 components that can be mixed and matched depending on the conditions and how active a soldier is, offers the critical protection soldiers here need to do their jobs, Miley said.
The Fort Drum, N.Y.-based 10th Mountain Division received it in 2005, in time for its deployment to Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Christopher Cavoli, commander of the division’s 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, offered the new system his highest praises after seeing its effectiveness in Operation Mountain Lion in the spring. “During Operation Mountain Lion, I found myself praying for bad weather -- the first time in my military career I was actually begging for a cold front to come through,” he said. “I knew my soldiers could handle it and the enemy couldn’t.
“The ECWCS allowed my men to outlast the enemy on their own terrain,” Cavoli said. “When the enemy was forced out of the mountains due to the bitter cold to take shelter, that’s when we got them.” |