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Landwarrior, Whopper edition.

By The Armorer on August 6, 2008 | | Comments (23)

From an email today...

Someone did the math and the projected weight of the future warrior with kit is 350 lbs (no joke). Hopefully someone will wake up. Attached picture may show soldier that tops even that. ML

The "Soldier's Load" is no joke.  When you combine it with a creeping PC construct about letting "non-traditional" people serve, with a healthy dollop of the American's With Disabilities Act...  you might well find a Future Force Warrior who looks like this.  This is still TTS (Tippy-Top-Sekrit) but I feel it's important enough to break OPSEC.  You'll have to click the "Read More" to see the pic.



And no, the Armorer is not the model in the photo.  I have a beard.
 


 

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23 Comments

By Ymarsakar on August 6, 2008 9:46 AM
Better get cracking on that exo-skeleton powered armor then.
 
By fdcol63 on August 6, 2008 9:52 AM
Better get cracking on that exo-skeleton powered armor then.
 

And that "cloaking" device.  LOL   I guess P-38's are SOOOOOOO yesterday.
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 10:12 AM
And, I admit, there is a *bit* of a slander for the Reserves.  I've seen a not insignificant number of largish people wandering about here at Fort Knox, wearing active duty unit patches.
 
By fdcol63 on August 6, 2008 10:28 AM
I guess when manpower is short, the Army can relax its "Fat Boy" program and put all the calipers in storage.  LOL
 
By Ymarsakar on August 6, 2008 11:06 AM
Don't Fat Boys carry nukes to targets of our choosing?
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 11:39 AM
That and Little Boys.

Except I think that the UN frowns on that - unless you have an African army.
 
By Ymarsakar on August 6, 2008 11:50 AM
African mercenary army that is.
 
By David M on August 6, 2008 12:39 PM
I guess P-38's are SOOOOOOO yesterday.
 

Except for us old-timers, are there any soldiers around that still know what a P38 is...or even a B52?  If that "trooper" used a P38 at least he'd get some PT in 3 - 4 times a day.

Sadly, I think the AirSoft field is as close as he is ever going to get to being in uniform.

 

 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 1:21 PM
David - *this* old soldier still carries the P-38 he got in 1972.  It's worn, and been used as a knife and screwdriver more than for opening cans... but it still comes in handy for it's original purpose now and again.

It's with me right now.
 
By BillT on August 6, 2008 1:57 PM
1972, eh? You got one of the new, improved, ergonomic ones, then.

*cough*

Still wear mine on my dogtag chain and I used it three days ago on a stubborn can of cashews...
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 2:22 PM
I think not, Bill.  Mine came out of a carton of C-rats with Green  label Lucky Strikes in them...
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 2:25 PM
...and IIRC, the label became someones flashlight filter, too.
 
By Alan Briley, RN on August 6, 2008 2:31 PM
 I still use the P-38 my father gave me in 1976 when I was a boy scout. Used it on C-rations in the Army, too, before MRE's came along.

I also still shoot my Steyr Model 1912 Chilean Mauser, my 1903-A3 Springfield, my Enfield, and my 1911-A1. I still practice with my broadsword, katana, calvary saber, and bokken. 

So, what's wrong with old? 

(P.S. In the 1980's, the base commander at Loring AFB in Maine told his B-52 crews they had to get rid of their bumper stickers that said, "THE B-52, SOMETHING OVER 30 YOU CAN TRUST!" No since of humor....
 
By BillT on August 6, 2008 2:40 PM
John -- That was a Juliet Oscar Kilo Echo.

The new, improved ones came out in 1980 -- they were slightly larger and made of metal so soft you *couldn't* use 'em for a screwdriver unless you were just popping Dzus fasteners.
 
By fdcol63 on August 6, 2008 2:56 PM
I still carry the same P-38 I got during my first FTX, which was REFORGER '82.  Used it once to change a carburetor on a jeep at Graf. As John said, it still comes in handy for a wide variety of uses.

(Got a couple of puncture scars on my leg, too, from where the dang then folds out every now and then ... LOL)
 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 3:04 PM
I don't joke about my P-38 (fierce look).  Hell, I almost didn't fly once after 9-11 because the TSA goon said it was a weapon, and I wasn't willing to surrender it.

That thing's gone everywhere I've ever gone - and hell, they'll bury me with it.
 
By Ymarsakar on August 6, 2008 3:23 PM
What are weapons are citizens willing to die and kill to defend their nation, other citizens, and themselves. I didn't see no TSA goon killing terrorists and stopping planes on 9/11.

Yet, they think they know what a weapon is or isn't?


 
By NevadaDailySteve on August 6, 2008 4:01 PM
Green  label Lucky Strikes

Would that be pre WWII smokes? You know "The green went to war" kind?

 
By BillT on August 6, 2008 4:10 PM
I had a mini SAK with a 1/2" blade (and screwdriver), which, according to the TSA's own policy (amended 2006), was auuthorized for carry-on. I carried it through Atlanta, Philly, Newark and Chicago with no problems. A dilated-pupils-type TSA at Sea-Tac confiscated it, even after I drew his attention to the poster right next to him that specifically listed it as authorized.

He refused to even read the poster. He must have been afraid I'd bolt if he stopped glaring at me for three seconds.
 
By BillT on August 6, 2008 4:15 PM
Steve -- 1943.

The C-rats we got in RVN sometimes had the pre-war red label Luckies in them, and we inspected *those* cans very carefully for swelling.

 
By John of Argghhh! on August 6, 2008 4:34 PM

It was 1972, and they came out of 60's-dated rations.  Fitting, since my rat that morning was green eggs and ham and Ranger pudding.

 
By NevadaDailySteve on August 6, 2008 4:35 PM
Red, green - I must be colorblind. I knew there was a militaristic hue in there someplace.
 
By Justthisguy on August 6, 2008 6:11 PM
"hell, they'll bury me with it" Yup, me, too. Just cleaned under the nails with it a coupla hours ago. Stewart Brand, he of the Whole Earth Catalog, said it was the noblest invention of the U.S. Army. I've used mine for all _sorts_ of things.