A soldier with 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat team, 7th Infantry Division reaches for her drink tube during an operational test of the Integrated Head Protection System and Tactical Communication and Protective System Lite hearing protection on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Aug. 8. (Sgt. Youtoy Martin/Army)
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The new Soldier Protection System includes Torso and Extremity Protection, Army Combat Shirt with built-in elbow pads, yoke, and shoulder protection, Integrated Head Protection System, and transition combat eye protection. (Alan Lessig/Staff)
The Modular Handgun System, the long-anticipated replacement to the decades old Beretta M9 sidearm, was recently tested by soldiers, sailors and Marines at Fort Bragg, N.C. It is scheduled for delivery to soldiers at the 101st Airborne Division in November. (Courtesy of Sig Sauer)
The Integrated Head Protection System has a variety of protection options, depending on a soldier needs, including a detachable visor and mandible to protect soldiers riding in vehicles, especially in positions such as turret gunner. (Larry Furnace/Army)
The Joint Effects Targeting System is a single-soldier-portable, handheld device that allows soldiers to quickly and accurate acquire, locate and engage targets with precision-guided munitions. (Army)
The Nett Warrior system is a smartphone-like device that allows commanders in the field to track the location of their soldiers, message them immediately and virtually mark areas and reroute troops on the fly. (Army)
The XM25 multi-shot grenade launcher, designed to help soldiers destroy targets behind walls or around corners, was cancelled this past year, but the requirement to perform those battlefield function remains on the books. (Army),
The Army is in the final stages of approving the fabric to be used for the new jungle Army Combat Uniform. Other design features, such as crotch gussets, or extra patches of fabric on the seams, will be updates to what’s currently available, but some changes recall older versions of the ACU – fewer pockets and buttons instead of Velcro. Soldiers also will test a newer jungle boot in January. (Army)
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program aimed to help financially strapped veterans get lower interest rates and avoid eviction from their homes.
Plans to cut more than 80,000 staffers from VA offices would severely hurt benefits delivery, said Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine Corps vet.
