Patty Nieberg
The Army wants to reduce the amount of equipment that close combat soldiers, like the infantry, have to carry. The obvious perks are that a lighter soldier can move (and fight) faster, is less likely to injure themselves carrying everything and the kitchen sink, and has less gear to worry about getting in trouble for losing.
“No longer will we hang things on them like we hang things on a Christmas tree,” Brig. Gen. Phil Kiniery, commandant of the Army’s Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, told Task & Purpose in a statement. “In some cases, we’re giving our forces redundant capabilities at the squad level, the platoon level, and the company level. Is that necessary, effective, and efficient? In some cases, the answer will be yes, and in some cases no.”
The average infantry soldier carries or wears more than 80 items. The Army wants to reduce that weight to 55 pounds, or “no more than 30%” of their body weight, Kiniery told contractors at an event earlier this month.
The cuts would impact the Army’s close combat forces, which include infantry, scouts, combat medics, forward observers, combat engineers, and special operations forces.
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